


Dalí Diamantes

by michaelfalls



Series: The Dalís [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gun Violence, Heist, Inspired by: La Casa de Papel, M/M, Sequel to 126 Horas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:22:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 38,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25048357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/michaelfalls/pseuds/michaelfalls
Summary: Two years after getting away with the greatest heist in history, Meg finds Crowley and Bela’s incomplete plans to seize the diamonds and gold reserves of the Diamonds Factory in the United Kingdom and interrupts Dean and Castiel's life of domesticity and small-time crime in Palermo to honour their fallen friends.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Jessica Moore/Sam Winchester (Background), Michael/Adam Milligan
Series: The Dalís [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1876024
Comments: 16
Kudos: 29





	1. DAY ONE

**Author's Note:**

> This is a SEQUEL to 126 HORAS. This one contains spoilers for 126 Horas so it’s better if you read that one first to get the background. You can find the fic on my account or here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24612373/chapters/59457829
> 
> Like the first one, it’s inspired by La Casa De Papel | Money Heist on Netflix. This one will be much less reliant on the show compared to the first one. This time, I planned this heist myself instead of borrowing from LCDP. Hopefully, it won’t be disappointing.
> 
> Again like the first one, while this heist is set in Diamonds Factory, the building will be FICTIONAL. I am not from the UK and cannot visit the place myself and provide an accurate depiction, so I am only borrowing the name of the building.
> 
> Content warnings will still be placed at the start of each chapter.
> 
> Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3aMRIcA7JcmoMechq6vfyF?si=mw9RbLW2QiyesuvZ3GrRXA

**THE ROBBERS**

**Dean Winchester AKA Kansas**  
The first-in-command  
Streetfighter  
 _Known for the Bank of America Heist ($2.17 billion in cash, $2.42 billion in gold)_

 **Castiel Novak AKA Angeles**  
Quality control manager  
The world’s best jewel thief  
 _Known for stealing 434 diamonds from Champs-Elysées_

 **Crowley MacLeod AKA Berlin**  
The second-in-command  
 _Expert robber wanted in the UK for the Hatton Garden Heist (£200 million)_

 **Meg Masters AKA Vegas**  
Skilled robber  
 _Known for the Knightsbridge Security Deposit Robbery (£60 million)_

 **Adam Milligan AKA Windom  
** Shoplifter  
Managing communications, surveillance and loose ends from the outside

 **Sam Winchester AKA Lebanon**  
A former inspector with the police who ran from arrest in Palermo

 **Gabriel Novak AKA Santiago**  
Serial pickpocket  
 _Known for robbing people through a fake ATM façade_

 **Jo Harvelle AKA Houston**  
Robber and hijacker who assists with criminal escapes

 **Jessica Moore AKA Madrid**  
Lawyer  
Managing communications and loose ends alongside Adam

 **Rowena MacLeod AKA Coventry**  
Con-woman  
Surgeon for criminals and those who cannot afford healthcare

 **Eileen Leahy AKA Palermo**  
An industrial equipment specialist that Dean, Castiel and Sam met in Palermo

 **Michael AKA Detroit**  
An expert jeweller Gabriel met in jail  
 _Known for the Northern Bank Robbery (£26.5 million)_

 **Ash AKA Nebraska**  
Expert in hacking and computer crime  
 _Known for hacking NASA and the US Defence Department_

What you have to do is make those suckers see what you’re capable of.  
 **Nairobi | Ágata Jiménez**

**DAY THREE**

_Cas was right, we should have stayed in bed._

Dean's lungs scream for relief as his chest draws tighter and tighter. He can't breathe and he grabs the first thing that comes within his grasp, the familiar material of their crimson jumpsuits. He drags in a rough breath as the person he pulled drops down to their knees next to him.

"Who shot Dean?" Dean can't tell whose voice that is but at the back of his mind, there is a moment of mockery when his brain tells him _you idiot, you got shot._

"Dean? Dean!" He feels hands on his face, distant like the voice attached to it, but he can recognise that voice, those hands, anywhere. Heaven blue eyes shift in and out of his focus and he can see a little bit of red on the tips of Cas's fingers. "Say something."

"I --" Dean chokes out, coughing. He can't say more, feeling impossibly out of breath and exhausted. He raises his hand from his gut and wonders when were his gloves ever red in colour, that they were black and maybe fingerless. He realises belatedly that that's not fabric at all, and that he didn't even have gloves in the first place, and there is something red dripping off his fingers. He mumbles, barely coherent, "I don't have gloves."

"Get Rowena and the supplies!" Cas shouts. Someone runs off but Dean can't exactly make out who it is as they disappear through the doorway. "Stay with me, Dean." He feels another hand rest on his wound. A steadier hand, Cas's hand. He instantly misses the touch of Cas's warm fingers on his cheek. "Shit." He pulls away and Dean hears the sound of a zipper, a flash of a black shirt going over Cas's head and being pressed down on his abdomen. "Dean, look at me."

When he can't even make out Cas's features clearly anymore, Dean begins to panic. There is a sensation that grows in him, unpleasant and relentless, and a chill settles in his bones as he processes that this is fear.

This is not how he thought it would have ended.

_Cas was right, we should have stayed in bed._

**8 months ago**

Dean Winchester is dead.

At least, in the eyes of the government. After the Bank of America, they’d finally registered him as legally dead. Dean guesses that maybe in their search for Sam, they tried to see if he had any relatives and realised that his brother hasn’t renewed his ID in eleven years and decided to log him in as deceased. Dean got himself a false ID in Palermo under the name Dino De Luca -- according to Cas, Dino means “little old sword” which he thought was pretty cool -- and lived as Dino instead of Dean in Europe. It’s an unregistered ID so he was technically still a ghost in the police’s database.

He still got into fights occasionally, and sometimes he and Cas ran small-scale heists in little jewellery shops where Cas sees a bunch of diamonds he thinks can’t be passed up. Old habits die hard, Dean thinks. It’s not so much diamonds being an expensive asset than Cas just itching to swipe some of the gems. Maybe Cas is a kleptomaniac but Dean didn't care. He stole over $4 billion from the Bank of America. Who is he to talk?

Small heists, Dean can do. Dean _encourages_ , in fact; no point in letting Cas’s extraordinary gift with jewel theft get rusty, not after he’d spent so much time perfecting it. He and Cas manage to get away every time -- with Cas’s expertise in the area, he’d come up with the ability to break in, grab what he wanted and get out, all under ninety seconds. He had a strict timetable he stuck to each time, only tweaking it slightly based on each store, and he cases his target across two weeks pretending to be shopping for a ring for his partner. Once he got all the information he needed, he’ll adjust the plan accordingly and get to work. 

They check in on Balthazar's family every three months to make sure all is well. They're getting by fine with his cut of the money and gold, thankfully. The Dalís all agreed that they would meet once a year to ensure they are all safe and well. They'd gotten the first year out of the way and their second meet-up was in two months at Meg's mansion in Madrid, Spain.

"If you keep getting into fights, we'll never make it to the second reunion," Cas chastises every time he has to drag Dean away from a fight.

"Come on, Cas. He had it coming," Dean grumbles, letting Cas pull him out of the restaurant and back onto the pavement. Dean flips off the man through the door and Cas rolls his eyes. It's his fifth fight in the past two months. Dean keeps losing his shit at things Cas insists they should just let go. Tonight's scuffle had been started after Dean caught a man making fun of Cas helping Dean out with his tie during their dinner. "He should be lucky I didn't kill him. What a dick."

"You know idiots like that are everywhere. Fighting won't help anything especially if you get us banned from every restaurant in Palermo," Cas says, hanging onto Dean's arm so they can walk closely. "If you get arrested, we'll have to run again and I've already gotten used to life here."

Dean sighs. "Yeah, I'll be careful. Fights in dark alleyways only." Cas glares at him and Dean chuckles, throwing his arm over Cas's shoulder and kissing his cheek in an attempt to placate him.

"I knew we should have stayed in bed this morning," Cas says, resigned, but he smiles anyway.

Someone whistles behind them and they turn, seeing who it is. The woman carries a big bag and a cylindrical tube with paper sticking out of the top. She walks closer, a familiar smile playing on her lips. "Who knew following the sound of a fight would take me to you?"

"Meg? What are you doing here?" Cas asks, surprised at her appearance. 

“We need to talk,” Meg says.

Meg lays out a few blueprints and notes on the table, smoothing them out with her hands as she explains, “I went back to the house we studied at to pick up something I forgot, and I found these in Crowley’s room.” She steps back to let Dean and Cas look the papers over and declares, “He and Bela were planning a heist in the United Kingdom. They were going to do it on the Hatton Garden but after Crowley’s heist on it, the UK security industry boosted defences. What worked then wouldn’t work now, so they switched targets.” She leans forward and sifts through the papers to pull one out from the bottom, smacking it down on top, giving them a complete view of the blueprint. “The Diamonds Factory.”

“That’s still in Hatton Garden,” Cas mumbles, but he narrows his eyes as he looks over the noted on the plan -- all over are elegant scribbles by Crowley and Bela, noting possible entry and exit points.

“But not the same part,” Dean points out, picking up a note written in Bela’s handwriting: ‘HIJACK A TRUCK -- FIND A WAY TO GET ONE ON THE ROAD’. He asks, raising the note, “This plan’s incomplete?”

Meg nods. “That’s why I came to you. I need your help to finish it.”

“You can start by researching the security manufacturer,” Cas says, taking the outdated vault plans and tearing it in half. “They’re not using Eurosafe anymore. They’re using Gunnebo. Safes are made in Markersdorf, Germany, then they're shipped to the UK. They’re good, but with a little bit of research, you might find something --“

“Let me rephrase. I need you to help me finish the plan and pull it off,” Meg clarifies and both men freeze in their spot.

“No,” Dean instantly rejects, “I spent ten years planning for the Bank of America and three people died. Bela and Crowley planned this for one year and it’s still incomplete. What makes you think we’re all getting out alive this time?”

Meg lifts up a handful of notes pointedly. “But now you know what you need to be ready for this time. We have money for better supplies now; military-grade protective equipment, real surgeons -- we could probably even bring one in with us. Money is power, Dean. And we collectively have millions of that. This isn’t the same as two years ago.”

Admittedly, Meg had a point about the situation being different. Dean did the first heist with equipment garnered by cashing in favours and debts that he’d only just finished paying off but now he could get all of that and more, and not even dent his financials.

Meg says, turning back to Dean, “You owe Bela.”

He did owe Bela. He owed Bela more than he could ever compensate. Dean gives Cas a look and Cas instantly says, “You can’t seriously be thinking about this.”

Dean pulls Cas aside and out of Meg's earshot. Once there is some distance between them and her, he says in a low voice, "Bela was my fault. Just like Balthazar and Benny." Cas is about to protest but Dean interrupts him. "It was my fault. I'm the one who asked them on that heist. I'm the one who didn't look out for them enough."

"Nobody could have predicted Abaddon," Cas insists. "This heist is going to be even worse than the first one. Are you really ready for everything that will go wrong?"

Dean stares at Cas and he sees concern, maybe a little bit of anger. Contemplating his next move as Meg waits for their decision a few feet from them. Finally, he turns to her and says, "This will only take a few hours. Grabbing the diamonds and going." Cas presses his lips together but doesn't say anything. At least, not out loud.

"No, we have to stay in the building." Meg picks up a note from the table and holds it up in front of him, a small blue square with writing in thick black marker. It reads: ‘GOLD RESERVES THERE -- Can’t melt into grains like Kansas, find another way’. "There's gold. 70,000 kilograms of it."

Cas walks away from the conversation, burying his face in his hands as he sighs heavily. Dean knows he really doesn't approve of this plan at all. He tries, "We already have more than enough gold split up among us --"

"Bela wanted to get the gold, so we are getting the gold," Meg cuts over Dean firmly. "Are you going to do this or not?"

Dean glances back at Cas. "Not everyone will want to go again."

"Then we give them a choice. I just need to know if you're both with me," Meg says. "I need you. Will you do the heist?"

Dean closes his eyes and inhales deeply. He says quietly, "I'll do it. Cas?"

"If you're going, I'm going," Cas replies. He doesn't meet Dean's eyes.

**6 months ago**

Charlie is apparently thinking about getting married to Dorothy, which has Dean excited like an older brother. Sam tells them about how his law degree is coming along well, especially with Jess's help. Crowley and his mother run a borderline honest business together as brokers of some sorts. Anael started a small underground business where she gets people what they want for a price, collecting favours and racking up debts. Adam's mother is doing well, and he himself had graduated from medical school. Everyone's lives seemed to be settling down.

When everyone is done with dinner, Meg drops the bomb on them about the new heist plan. 

She tells them about the diamonds and the gold, and about how Dean had resolved as many issues as he could in the past two months, and that it was Bela and Crowley's plan. Crowley looks at her wryly the whole time, and there are mixed expressions all around the table. Dean doesn't want to see Cas's.

"If you don't want to do this, you're free to leave," Dean says. There's quiet tension as everyone looks around the table at one another, waiting to see who will go and who will stay. On one hand, more gold and diamonds. On the other, three people died in a plan that took ten years of careful devising. It doesn't take very long -- Anael stands up, picks up her bag, and walks out the front door without another word, only bowing her head once in some kind of apology.

Charlie watches her go with reevaluation until she says hesitantly, "You'll need a tech expert."

"We're not gonna force you. If you wanna skip out then go ahead. We can find someone else," Dean assures. He can tell she didn't want to go again, not after what they lost the first time. Even Cas didn't want to go. Even himself.

Charlie stares at him, thinking and rethinking, looking over at the other robbers. Finally, she hugs Dean, whispers an apology, and walks out.

"Anyone else?" Dean asks. When nobody else objects, he nods and says, "We'll be preparing for the next six months. If at any point you decide you no longer want to do this, you're free to go. I won't keep you here against your will." He turns to Meg. "Can we study here, or do you all want to go back to the house we were at before?" They all agree to just study at Meg's place and it was settled.

Since the plan belonged to Crowley as well, Dean picks him as his second-in-command, a role that Cas agrees should be handed over to Crowley.

Dean needed extra hands -- a bigger heist and two people who left, and they were short three from the previous heist. Jo Harvelle readily accepts after being declined the chance to join the first time. Gabriel willingly volunteers once he heard Cas was going too. Crowley's mother insisted on coming along -- she had expertise in surgery which Dean knew they desperately needed, so he didn't turn her away. Jo's close friend Ash offered to help and they needed a new tech expert in place of Charlie so of course, he lets him come along. Gabriel brings along a jewel connoisseur by no known name to Dean that he'd met in prison and Dean accepts him for his expertise. Finally, Dean invites Eileen Leahy, an industrial specialist who can help with machinery he needed for how he wanted to handle the gold.

The jewel expert chooses Detroit, Rowena goes with Coventry, Eileen settles for Palermo and Ash picks Nebraska, and they were ready to get started.

**Friday, 3:30 PM**   
**0 hours**   
**0 diamonds**   
**0 kg**

As they say, if it ain't broke, why fix it?

Dean decided to keep the entrance and escape the same. A week before, Dean bribed an employee at the Diamonds Factory at Hatton Garden to render any one of the important machines completely useless so that they would have to bring in a new model by the next morning. They'd kept their end of the deal and the team split off -- Cas and Crowley taking over a cop car that Jo called for, and Jo and the rest of them took the truck.

They moved their equipment in like before. This time, they had better protective gear, new and improved medical supplies like IFAK kits, oxygen, an actual gurney, and other things Rowena insisted that they needed. They had the spare red coveralls and masks.

They were ready.

Dean kisses Cas good luck and Cas simply says, "We'll talk later."

Cas and Crowley change clothes with the police officers and take the car, driving off to the Diamonds Factory first. Jo and Dean take the driver and passenger of the truck and follow them. Adam had already gone off to his new station, an abandoned café half-deconstructed that Dean rented out for two weeks by bribing the construction workers to leave it alone. He didn't think he could keep the building for longer than seven days, but on the off chance that they did, he didn't want Adam to get chased out. Beneath the café was a basement, which is where their tunnel will lead. During the six months, Dean had paid miners to create another tunnel, on top of the one from there to the Diamonds Factory -- the second tunnel led to a warehouse that he rented out as well.

All of which under various names, of course. Caroline Fisher for the café, Harris Ford for the warehouse. Hopefully, Han Solo and Leia Organa would be proud. Or at least Han.

Half an hour later, the truck rolls up to the security gate of the Diamonds Factory where Cas and Crowley had taken over during shift change. Ash had disabled all the metal detectors earlier so the artillery rolls past them just fine. Crowley steals the security footage and gets to work destroying it so there's no video evidence that the truck had come, or Cas and Crowley taking control of the security gate.

Cas and Crowley move to the landing zone and Crowley orders, "Sorry, but you're going to have to move to the main lobby. We're investigating a possible break-in."

Ash jams every phone's signal as Cas ushers the employees out of the landing zone. Once they're gone, the truck's back door rolls up and the other Dalís jump out, beginning to unload their supplies and artillery. 

Cas and Crowley rejoin them, now in the red jumpsuits alone without the security jackets and caps from earlier. Dean turns away from signing to Eileen instructions for the gold vault and gives Cas as light a smile as he can muster. "Hey, Cas."

Cas greets him back but it's tight and leaves an uneasy feeling in Dean's chest. He asks, "What are we doing now?"

"I'm about to send Eileen, Ash and Rowena down to break into the vault," Dean answers, clearing his throat. "You're heading down to diamonds with me, Meg and Jo."

To say Cas has been unhappy since the day started is an understatement. He'd been moody when he woke up, already out of bed by the time Dean forced himself awake. Not to act as though Cas doesn't have the habit of waking up early, but he'd never left the bed before Dean woke up. It's a small thing to worry about at a time like this, Dean knew, but he can't stop thinking about Cas. He didn't want to do the heist, Dean should have said no, let him stay in Palermo --

"Dean," Crowley calls, breaks him out of his trance. Cas turns away to pick out a rifle. "Sam says most of the hostages are in the main lobby. Do you want us to fetch the rest or hold off for now?"

"Hold off," Dean answers. "We need to keep them in the dark until we've gotten the vaults and safes cracked." Crowley nods and goes to grab a bulletproof vest. After what happened before, Dean decided that they and the hostages will wear Kevlar vests the whole time. They had more than enough money to stock up. He shifts back to Cas's side. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Cas says, slinging the Russian AK-12 over his vest. "Why?"

Dean frowns, wrapping a vest around himself. "You tell me, you look mad."

"We are trying to hijack the Diamonds Factory, I'm sure jumping around smiling isn't an appropriate response," Cas replies, loaded with sarcasm. He takes his lockpicking tools from the back of the truck and joins Jo's side. Jo almost says something to him but Dean reaches out and grabs his arm, pulling him back.

"Cas -- Cas!" Dean calls out, stopping Cas from moving to the stairs. Cas looks back him, an eyebrow raised, staring blankly. There is no trace of Cas in his expression, only Angeles. "Will you talk to me?"

Cas looks at him, wavering. "Later."

"Later when?"

"Tonight," Cas promises. "Now we have to go."

**Friday, 5:00 PM**   
**1 hour**   
**0 diamonds**   
**0 kg**

Once the hostages were in order, watched by Sam, Gabriel and Detroit, Dean splits up the remaining Dalís to get to work cracking vaults and safes. He entrusts Ash, Eileen and Rowena with handling the gold vault and he takes Meg, Jo and Cas with him to work the diamonds.

The thing about having an experienced jewel thief on your side of things is that he knows exactly how to conquer most, if not all, security measures placed before him. Most of the vault breaking plans had been thought of by Cas, with just some suggestions by Dean. That's why he's in charge of getting to the diamonds.

They stop right outside of the room and Cas starts working, almost like muscle memory by now -- he pulls out a can of hairspray and shakes it, the metallic clanging the only sound echoing before he sprays the heat detectors. Cas had explained during their two months of readjusting Bela and Crowley's outdated plan that the oil in the hairspray will insulate the air around the detectors, rendering them completely useless in detecting their body heat when they actually enter the room. It's not a permanent solution but it lasts a few hours and they just need it for until Dean and Ash do their parts in disabling the alarms.

Dean pulls his Dalí mask down over his face and the rest follow. They hustle into the room and Jo wraps the cameras with black plastic so the light sensors won't get them. Cas shifts over to the magnetic lock on the door.

Hatton Garden had actually been Cas's lined-up target after Champs-Elysées in Paris, but he never got to do it because he got locked up for three years after stealing those 434 diamonds, and then he just never got around to actually pulling it off. However, his ambition meant that he had been keeping tabs on their defence system, paying off employees and people who were willing to scape the field for him. He was and still is up to date on the various security measures Hatton Garden stores have implemented over the years.

The newest addition to the Diamonds Factory is a magnetic lock on the diamonds' vault door -- when the door is being tampered with, it will trigger a magnetic field which then trips the alarm when the door is opened. The police will be called, they'll be found out, and then they're fucked.

With Cas's instructions, Dean had created a contraption that should be able to disable the lock. It's an aluminium plate with heavy-duty double-sided tape on one side. He'll stick them on the two bolts on the door and they unscrew the lock until its loose, but still side by side and generating the magnetic field. Then, they just get the damn bolts off, out of the way, to a disabled gateway.

Cas takes the device from Dean and waits by the lock, nodding towards the panel in the ceiling, yet another addition that was added after Crowley's Hatton Garden heist years ago. It's the wiring for the alarms system for the vault door. Cas says, "Turn them off just in case this thing doesn't work."

Dean nods and takes the panelling off, revealing a mass of wires tangled. Meg frowns up at it, commenting, "How the hell do you know which one to cut?"

"I'm not cutting any of them, I'm just adding one more," Dean answers. He pulls back the plastic coating on one of the wires and attaches a new wire to the exposed copper. It's supposed to reroute the circuit entirely so even if the device Cas asked Dean to make doesn't work, the alarm will not be a problem for them. Every alarm sent by the door will now be completely irrelevant.

"Done," Dean mumbles, and Cas gets through the door. He hands lockpicking tools to Dean and the two of them get started on cracking the locks for the safe boxes. There is a total of 160 of them in the vault, all made of steel copper and secured with key and combination locks. The day before, Ash had hacked the system and given them the full list of codes, so they only had to deal with the key locks.

Jo takes out the sheet of paper with codes printed all over and starts pressing them into the keypad on each safe. Both of them work together to unlock each one and Meg dumps the diamonds into a bag.

Jo smiles, inputting the tenth code. "How many diamonds are in these?"

"About 17,000 in total," Cas answers, cracking another safe and moving to the next one with Dean. "We'll make quick work of this. At most, this will just be two hours of work with the four of us. We'll work in shifts, switch duties every half an hour."

"Love it when you take charge," Dean jokes, hoping Cas would feel a little less tense.

It works. Cas smiles -- small, but there, and it's good enough for him.

"Keep it in your bedroom," Meg gags, pouring more diamonds into the bag.

Down in the foundry, Eileen, Ash and Rowena begin to crack the vaults to get to the gold. According to Cas, they had upped security for the gold, implementing not one but three vaults instead. They have the same basic mechanisms in common -- a door of 16.5 metric tons, constructed so perfectly that even a smidge of cotton will stop it from closing all the way, and the same code and double-lock system that the diamond safes used. If the locks are picked, the police will be called.

Eileen comes into play, where once Cas voiced his concern for the inability to pick the locks, Dean called her. They'd met Eileen Leahy in Palermo after she helped Dean in a fight, both with the actual fight and getting away afterwards. They kept in contact with her and found out that she's like Benny, an expert in industrial systems, plus an excellent key forger.

Eileen had forged keys based on security footage Ash had hacked from the building. They're accurate enough after Ash's best attempts to enhance the footage quality so they could be of use to Eileen. They work, miraculously, and Rowena excited assists with opening the doors with her while Ash hacks his way through the codes so the door gets unlocked.

"What now?" Rowena asks, peering through the first opened door to a dark elevator shaft.

Ash explains, putting down his laptop so he can sign as he talks, "A 35-metre deep elevator shaft that'll take us to an antechamber with a retractable drawbridge. Don't have to worry about what it'll trigger. As far as the system knows, we didn't break-in, so we're fine. Let's move to the second door. Rowena, can you get the styrofoam boards and tape?"

"Aye," Rowena acknowledges, grabbing the supplies from the bag they took with them. Eileen and her each grab one board, holding it to opposite sides of the room while Ash walks between them, hands occupied with his laptop as he gets a headstart on cracking the code. The styrofoam boxes prevent the sensors from detecting their body heat until Rowena and Eileen get close enough to duct tape the sensors.

They get through the second door easy, and Ash just hacks the time lock on the last door. Supposedly, it would only open five hours later. They could wait it out but who knows how long they have before hostages start wandering and see things they shouldn't see? Ash could open the door in five seconds anyway.

They're greeted with the sight of gold, glinting in thin white light above them, lined up beautifully on stainless steel shelves.

"Just gorgeous," Rowena fawns, moving to take one ingot. She dramatically pretends to be surprised at its weight. "We're rich."

"We can set up the machinery later, it won't take very long. Just a furnace, a roller and moulds," Eileen says as she signs. "We should go meet up with Dean in the lobby."

"Good afternoon, my name is Kansas. If you recognise this mask, you may have seen us at the Bank of America two years ago," Dean greets from the top of the stairs, his most charming smile splitting across his face. "We're back."

17,000 diamonds in their possession and the machinery in the foundry will be set up soon. The police still don't know they're there yet. The easy part was now over -- keeping the building will be harder, but Dean was determined to not lose anyone this time. If luck was on his side, they wouldn't even be caught at all, but Lady Luck doesn't like Dean that much.

They don't have a chance at securing their position in the Factory for a long time, Dean knows it. Cas knows it, Meg knows it, they all do. Which is why this time, Dean took out them acting like they had a failed exit. The same tricks wouldn't work twice.

They're staying in the bank, and they're going to act like everything is just fine. If people want to enter the building, they'll let them in, and they'll let one out irregularly so it doesn't seem out of the ordinary. Dean wants at least 50 hostages at all times. They need a bargaining chip, the same way they had the state secrets, Frank Devereaux and Jack Kline in the first one, so Dean searched long and hard to find their ultimate chess piece. Obviously, some jewel shop won't have state secrets or a governor. But a royal family relative?

She had arrived at the building like a miracle. Gilda Good, who's apparently going to marry into the royal family or something. Dean honestly doesn't care about British politics. Maybe Crowley or Rowena would know more, but all he knows is that she's untouchable, and she'd walked right up to their doorstep. They let her in, and then Jo got her into the red coveralls and gave her a Dalí mask.

Dean looks over the 56 hostages they currently have. It's mostly employees, a handful of visitors, essentially people the government doesn't care about, except for their one royal family chess piece. He grins as sweet as he can, hoping to ease the hostages a little as they quickly realise they're the ones who robbed the Bank of America. "Like before, we'll be keeping you here for a few days as we do our work. Don't worry, we won't bother you. You will be here, given three meals a day and medication if you need it. While you're here, you are under our protection."

"Those who need medication or require sanitary supplies, go with Coventry over there and let her know what you need. We will try to get it to you as soon as the opportunity shows itself," Cas says, gesturing to Rowena who pushes her mask up into her hair, waving daintily with a smile. The police didn't know they were there yet and they needed time to make it known that they weren't leaving, so they have to hold off on supplies for a while. "Otherwise, please take a jumpsuit in your size and a Dalí mask and get changed."

A few hostages go to Rowena and she writes down supplies on a notepad. They had some supplies they brought along for hostages but they obviously can't get everything, just the generic things like sanitary pads, Xanax, painkillers, inhalers. The more specific stuff will have to come from the police at a later hour.

Dean leans in closer so his lips are by Cas's ear. "I'm going to handle gold with Eileen. Are you coming?"

"I'll stay here. Gold and industrial equipment are not where my skills lie," Cas answers briskly. "Unless you want me to go with you, then I will."

Dean considers it. Maybe Cas should stay, he had a leader quality to him and could handle the hostages in his absence. He was his former second-in-command for a reason. Or he could sort out the diamonds with Detroit.

Selfishness wins in the end. Dean asks, "Can you come with me?"

"Of course," Cas says, turning on his heel. "Let's go." Dean orders Crowley to come with them so he and Eileen can start on gold once he and Cas finish setting up the equipment Eileen brought.

**Friday, 8:30 PM**   
**5 hours**   
**17,000 diamonds**   
**0 kg**

They can’t melt the gold down to grains like before, because by now any institution holding gold would have altered the holding areas so they’re incapable of accommodating the size of the equipment they need -- forges, furnaces and so on. Therefore, Dean agreed with Bela's note; grains are not an option. Moving the ingots on their own is too heavy and time-consuming on the exit. Gold nuggets were just bigger grains, they still don't have the space for the equipment. They had to make the gold convenient to get out and lightweight enough to carry.

Dean had thought about the gold for weeks after agreeing to assist Meg. Meg suggested turning them into spheres so they would be easier to move, but Dean brought up the matter of the volume and weight and the idea was abandoned. The concept of coins was brought up too but quickly scrapped. Too many coins to hide on the way out.

Three weeks after agreeing to the heist, Dean woke up in bed to see Cas looking at him next to him, a book in his hands. Dean smiled, runs his knuckles over Cas’s cheekbone, and greeted, "Morning, sunshine."

"I've been thinking about it," Cas said. "I’ve come to the conclusion of paper."

"Paper what?"

"We'll turn the gold into paper," Cas clarified, straightening up in bed. "It's a technique commonly used in Japan. It's typically used to make gold leaves or foil for decoration. They melt the gold and flatten it until it's like paper. It's light and easy to move. We can turn the gold into paper and..." He raises his book, one of Michelangelo's, and a corner of his mouth lifts in a half-smile. "And you know where we can hide it."

God, Dean fucking _loves_ him.

Dean and Cas had set up the machinery in the foundry for it while Sam had been getting the hostages in order. They have a furnace set up to melt about 12 ingots per hour. The amount had to be lowered because the area just didn't give enough leeway for the same large furnace they used in the first heist. They'll melt the gold and forge them into 1 cm tall bricks. They have a roller made of stainless steel to flatten that. Typically, it's flattened until it's 0.05-millimetres but Dean really does not have the time to deal with gold paper so flimsy and fragile. He doesn't want to risk tainting the gold too much. They all agreed that 1-millimetre thickness per sheet is fine. Those sheets will then be cut into smaller pieces and then packed together.

Dean didn't really care how much gold they got out, he just wanted to satiate Meg's need to honour Bela and ease his guilt for her death. For all the deaths he had to live with.

"Crowley, get an ingot, we need to make sure the equipment works," Eileen orders and Crowley takes a bar, throwing it into the furnace to melt.

While waiting for five minutes to pass, Dean turns to Cas and nods to the doorway so they can talk in the corridor alone. Cas raises an eyebrow but follows him out. Once they're out of Crowley's earshot, Dean says, hushed, "Seven days. We'll be out of here in seven days, okay? Just one week. Don't be mad."

"I'm not mad," Cas sighs. "A little reluctant, but not mad. Especially not at you. I'm just concerned that something will go wrong again."

"I swear to God, I am not letting anyone die. Not this time," Dean says, trying to make his sincerity clear in the way he looks at Cas. "If anyone dies, it'll be me. Nobody else."

"If you die, I'll kill you," Cas mutters.

"That makes no sense," Dean smiles, faintly remembering saying something like that at the start of the first heist. If memory served him right, Cas said he trusted Dean and that's why he thought something would go wrong, and Dean said it made no sense. It did make a little bit of sense now after everything had happened. Maybe he wasn't worried about Dean's plan, after all, and he was just concerned about if anything would come along to fuck with it.

"Stop quoting yourself." Cas rolls his eyes, but a smile plays on his lips.

Dean grins. "Aw, you remembered."

Cas tells him to shut up and is about to go back into the foundry when Dean grabs his hand, pulling him back in to kiss him. Dean cradles Cas's face in his hands as Cas presses back against him, opening his mouth over his. For a second, it doesn't feel like they're waiting for gold to turn to paper or waiting for the police to arrive. It feels like they're in their little house in Palermo and he wished he could stop time there.

"Okay, boys. Break it up," Crowley says, tone humourless. "We're about to start rolling the gold."

Cas presses a last kiss to Dean's mouth, gentle and fleeting and nothing like Angeles, and he says quietly, "I need to go tend to the diamonds with Detroit. I'll see you later." Dean watches him go, a stupid smile on his face, and looks back at Crowley and Eileen to see them giving him flat looks.

"What?" Dean frowns, opening his arms as if inviting an answer.

Crowley and Eileen look at each other and Eileen shakes her head slowly. "Just come here." Once he's at their side, Eileen explains, signing as she speaks, "The gold is almost cooled down and then we will have to put it through the roller a few times just to see if it can fit into the book spines you brought. Are you sure we have enough?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it," Dean assures, hands moving to sign what he says. "If we run out, Jess and Adam have it covered."

When Dean called him to propose a new heist, Adam almost instantly said no, until Meg took over the phone and launched into her reasoning about how they owed it to Bela, Balthazar and Benny to do her plan and honour their memory. He agreed with the sentiment, insisted that there were other ways to do right by their friends, and proceeded to lose that argument against Meg.

In the end, he decided to help after Dean confirmed that both he and Sam were going. Sam surprised Adam and he'd called him after Dean hangs up to ask him about it.

"I'm not letting my brother go in without me." That had been Sam's very simple explanation, and it was that that convinced Adam to go along.

Since they had six months before they would pull off the actual heist, Dean could prepare escape routes way ahead of time. He decided that considering how they will have no time to spare this second heist and they had the money to spare, Dean just hired some miners, old friends of Benny's, to dig the escape tunnel for them. It's roughly the same length and width as before, but this one leads to a warehouse that Dean rented out. Their getaway truck was in the warehouse with him, ready for whenever Dean decides they should run. He'd bought the van over from a bookstore company, Blackwell's.

Another difference from the first time is that he's not alone anymore. Sam's girlfriend insisted that she wanted to join, so Dean paired her up with Adam so he could show her what they'll do from their end of the heist. She picked the city of Madrid in Spain since they trained from Meg's place there for this heist.

Apparently, she's a lawyer and when Sam and Jess moved to Palermo with Dean and Castiel, she helped Sam study for his bar exams after he decided to pursue law too. Jess is a pretty nice girl, and Adam is a little surprised that a heist is her scene, but he knew better than to assume.

Jess settles at the table behind him, marvelling at the monitors coming to life on the computers. "They fixed up the cameras."

When the pixels finally settle, Dean and Cas look up at the camera in their main control room. Cas narrows his eyes and cocks his head, saying something to Dean, and then Dean grins as he waves at the camera. Ash gives Dean a thumbs up and steps away from the landline phone. Dean picks it up and presses a button. "Can you hear me?"

"Hey, Dean," Jess smiles. "Systems are up."

"Awesome." Dean glances at Cas and then back at the camera. "We got the diamonds and gold's starting production. Now we just have to see how long we can go before we get caught."

Contrary to popular belief, Sam doesn't learn a lot about pulling off a perfect crime from catching good criminals. He knows where they go wrong, he knows what they could do to fix their mistakes, but actually doing the crime is a different conversation. Hypothetically, he could go over Dean's plan for the Bank of America and come up with a list of things he should have done differently or do away with, or do in addition. But doing it is another matter, it's complex.

Something about life Sam has learned over the years is that he cannot predict everything. Sure, anyone can hypothesise what would happen based on how people around them would react. That's the basis of probability. But that's essentially all they have, fluctuating probability, which leaves room for doubt, tension and fear.

Probability is why Meg played Russian Roulette on Dean. Probability is how none of them expected Abaddon to kill Balthazar and Bela. Probability is the foundation for success and failure built on a basis of familiarity.

There is no familiarity here. It's a new building, a new country, some new members among some old. A new police team to deal with, new loot to bag. Maybe that's why Sam is nervous. He's never done a heist before, at least not for the full duration. Nerves make him forget what he could do to save the rest if they got caught.

Dean is a fucking rock star with the way he plans for possible contingencies. Over the past two years living in Palermo, Sam and Dean managed to get over the awkwardness of being reunited after the stress in the Bank was taken away as their common point. Dean got along with Jess just fine, and Sam actually likes Cas.

Probability is Sam getting assigned to his brother's heist at the Bank of America.

So Sam is going to trust probability to get them all out safe this time.

**Friday, 11:00 PM**   
**7 hours**   
**17,000 diamonds**   
**298 kg**

Miraculously enough, it seems like they won't be discovered until tomorrow at least. They let in evening shift employees and visitors so it wouldn't seem strange that the building closed for no reason. At first, Dean thought about releasing a random hostage irregularly, and then he realised it would be a stupid mistake because they would get reported to the police and scrapped it. All alarms have been disabled and building's cameras taken down and replaced with their own. It was like a normal day for Hatton Garden.

Dean puts his legs up on the desk in one of the offices, belonging to some dude named Lee Webb. Someone knocks on the office door and Dean tells them to come in. Cas stops at the doorway. "Hello, Dean."

"Hey, angel," Dean smiles, and Cas walks in, stopping in front of the desk. "Can we talk now?"

"Yes," Cas says, sitting opposite him. "What did you want to talk about?"

"If you don't want to be here, it's all good, you know? You can go through the tunnel, hold the fort down with Adam and Jess. I'm cool with it," Dean starts. "I don't want to keep you here if you'd rather not be."

Cas takes one of Dean's hands, bending down to press a light kiss to his knuckles. "Dean, I'll follow you anywhere. If you're here, I'm here." Dean glances away and bites back a smile, praying that Adam and Jess aren't watching the office right now, even though he feels like a fucking teenager.

Dean takes his hand out of Cas's, pulling Cas in gently for a kiss. "If we get out of this alive, I'm getting you a ring."

Cas grins into the kiss. "What ring?"

Dean presses a fleeting kiss to Cas's lips, then another one to the corner of his mouth before pulling away to take a diamond out of a pocket in his jumpsuit. "I took one from the safe boxes."

He raises it to Cas's eye level and Cas analyses the diamond, like it's second nature to him, "1.5 carats." He takes the diamond from between Dean's fingers to get a clearer look. "58 facets, FL. Colour grade D... Beautiful."

Dean grins. "I have no fucking clue what any of that meant but you said 'beautiful' so I think it's a good diamond."

"It is, it's gorgeous." Cas turns it in his hand, mesmerised.

"I'm gonna melt some of the gold down into a ring, and then I'll give you that diamond," Dean says, watching the way Cas's face freezes and he looks up at him with wide eyes.

"Are you going to ask me..."

"Yeah." Dean laughs, light and a little embarrassed. "I hope that's okay with you."

Cas leans over the desk to kiss Dean, and he's never felt so driven to get the hell out of the Diamonds Factory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here are the real crimes referenced in the list of robbers:
> 
> Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Burglary  
> Knightsbridge Security Deposit Robbery  
> Dunbar Armoured Robbery  
> Hacking of NASA/US Defence: Jonathan James  
> Fake ATM Façade: A story taken from a Reddit page about clever criminals  
> Northern Bank Robbery


	2. DAY TWO

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW/  
> Grazed by gun  
> Gun action  
> Arrest

**6 months ago**

“Communication is key,” Dean starts, looking over the current team of Dalís, all seated like students once again. They have lined up in rows of two just like before -- Detroit and Eileen in the first row, Jess and Sam in second, Crowley and Cas in third. Ash and Jo in fourth, Meg, Gabriel and Rowena in the last row. Adam didn’t show up for the lessons since he had the pretty light job of just surveillance, so Dean promised that he will catch him up on the plan before they head off to the UK and that Jess will be there to fill him in on anything he misses.

“And yet it took you and Cas a year to talk about the sexual tension,” Meg teases. Crowley laughs obnoxiously and Cas turns in his seat to narrow his eyes at her.

Dean rolls his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Listen, we need a way to communicate in the Factory because running around as we did in the bank clearly didn’t work. Cas?”

Cas walks to the back of the room and grabs something, bringing it to the front and putting it down on Dean’s desk. He explains, patting the device, “Shortwave radio. They go at frequencies between 1700kHz and 30 MHz. These went almost obsolete after the internet came in. They let us communicate at long distances, so we will be using walkie-talkies to talk to each other and with Adam and Jess.”

Detroit asks, “Won’t anyone be able to hear us?”

Dean grins, nodding. “Anyone with a radio can hear us if they find our channel but the cool thing is that Ash will be adding 2000 layers of encryption into the broadcast and reception. We’ll hear each other just fine but the police will hear nothing but garbage. For every transmission we make to each other, another 2000 layers will be added. They can have a hundred hackers and they will never get through the layers fast enough.”

“In case that doesn’t work out, then we’ll go back to using the analogue phone to talk to Adam and Jess,” Cas says.

“Then what about negotiation with the police?” Jo asks, furrowing her eyebrows. “We won’t have the analogue phone so we can’t use that, right?”

“We’ll be using second-generation phones. No Internet connection and no GPS. They’ll have to rely on the service, use the nearest connected cell tower to find the phone. That area’s pretty wide already, but they can track the phone during the call,” Dean explains, holding up two phones. “Either Adam or Jess will take the phones and cycle around the city while the call is made. It’ll ping to different cell towers or be impossible to locate because it’s constantly moving. Untraceable.”

“You’ve thought of everything,” Detroit says, impressed. “Adam and Moore’s safety, the encryption...”

Dean smiles wryly. “It’s a harder heist. I have to be more prepared. So Ash and Jo will set up the shortwave radio when we’re at the Factory. All of us will each have a walkie-talkie and Kevlar vest on. In fact, all the hostages will have a vest. In case there’s another Abaddon.”

**Saturday, 8:00 AM**   
**16 hours**   
**17,000 diamonds**   
**1,639 kg**

Castiel has an unhealthy obsession with diamonds which means that he spends a good deal of his spare time either stealing jewels or finding out how to get more. An obsession with collecting them that’s quickly evolved more into kleptomania over the years but Cas is fine with it. It means there’s something for him to pass the time with.

It also means that he’s always searching for ways to produce his own diamonds. He knows how -- put a tiny fragment of a diamond in a microwave with varying amounts of carbon-heavy gas to create a synthetic diamond.

There’s another way that’s ridiculously cheap but works, even if the diamond ends up being really crap quality; put a 100% cotton thread on olive oil and let it absorb, tie a knot in that thread and slip a piece of graphite into that knot. Suspend that thread above the surface and let the oil soak into the graphite. Cut the thread as close to the graphite as possible and pull the knot undone and then put that oiled graphite between a crucible and then that into the microwave. Maximum cook time and power setting and you’ll have yourself a poor-quality diamond.

He’s tried every method under the sun. He’s experimented on his own. He’s sure that Detroit would be more experienced in the area but he knows one thing -- if you spend a day making a diamond, it’ll be shit. Authentic enough, but such poor quality that you will never sell it on any market. If you spend ten to twelve days on the diamond, it’ll be profitable.

Then Stanford University and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory came up with a way that’ll take just a short while. Castiel is hoping it’ll be half an hour per diamond. It’s experimental still, and when he tried it in Madrid to find out it works...

(Let’s say Dean got _very_ lucky that night.)

He found two diamond anvil cells in the basement of the Diamonds Factory while making sure there are no hostages hiding there. He brings them upstairs and shows the anvils to Dean and Detroit. “We can make our own diamonds.”

“How?” Dean asks, frowning. “Is this the thing you talked about that time with the diamondoids?”

“Yes. 3 types of powder refined from tankers full of petroleum and made into diamondoids, pure carbon with hydrogen. With the diamond anvil cell, we’ll press the powder between 2 pure cut diamonds and then that’s heated with a laser into a triamantane,” Cas explains.

Detroit catches on. “900 Kelvin and 20 gigapascals and it’ll become a diamond.”

“It’ll be about half an hour per diamond and with two machines, 4 per hour,” Cas says. “It’s slow but since we already have 17,000 diamonds, I’m sure it doesn’t matter, just some extras.”

“You and your diamond obsession,” Dean grins. “Knock yourselves out.”

**Saturday, 2:30 PM**   
**22 hours**   
**17,024 diamonds**   
**2,533 kg**

Arthur Ketch takes a very specific route to work every morning, which means that everything he sees outside the bus’s window is committed to his very sharp memory. He remembers the mustard stain on the apron of the man who sells hotdogs by the road. He remembers the one misplaced brick in the sidewalk that nobody bothered to put back. He remembers the hours that the stores are open and when people commonly enter or leave.

So when he doesn’t see a single person entering or exiting the Diamonds Factory on Hatton Garden, he knows something is wrong. The Diamonds Factory doesn’t close on Saturdays. He goes to check if there’s any cell service in the building and, lo and behold, not one cell phone is turned on.

By 2:30, they have a tent set up outside the Diamonds Factory and had the area closed off. An FBI agent was contacted, one who had gotten promoted to that status in the past year and who had worked on the Dalís before -- Agent Naomi Intel, formerly an inspector with American police. She got on the most imminent flight and would be arriving in about 4 hours, so Ketch had to get started on negotiations as he couldn’t wait for her to arrive. Plus, his house, his rules.

Mick Davies, his closest friend in the force back in America, joined him when he moved back to the UK. They reenlisted in the Metropolitan police, eagerly welcomed back.

The case no longer belonged to just them -- other than Naomi Intel from FBI on a flight over, an Interpol agent was sent, Toni Bevell. Although, she disappeared by the time the tent was set up so he has no idea if this is Interpol protocol or if she decided that the Dalís weren’t enough of a threat for Interpol to handle.

Either way, Toni Bevell is not his jurisdiction. If she wants to go AWOL on a national case then her superiors will deal with her. Ketch doesn’t give a shit. He only cares about what’s in front of him and that’s the Diamonds Factory.

He figures that they must have been waiting to get noticed if they haven’t done the same big show as before, so he goes to the front of the building and flips it off.

Jo looks out of the window, watching as the police began setting up base outside the Factory. She turns to Sam, notifying, “The cops found us, we should tell Dean.”

Sam nods minutely, glancing out as well. “Fine, tell him then.”

She stares at him, almost in disbelief, and says exasperatingly, “It’s been 6 months, Sam. Are you seriously still mad at me about Dean?” Sam gives her a look, matching her in incredulity.

“You knew Dean was alive all those years and you never told me! You let me mourn him!” Sam argues. “Why the hell should I accept your apology?”

Six months ago, Sam found out that Dean contacted Jo to join in the heist and then he realised that she’d been in contact with Dean all those years after his disappearance but she never told him. Least to say, when Jo showed up in Madrid for Dean’s lessons, Sam was not happy at all to see her. Their animosity ran on for months -- Jo trying to make it up to him and Sam being unwilling to listen.

“What do you want me to do? Beg for your forgiveness? Because I won’t,” Jo finally snaps. “When Dad died, that wrecked me, it wrecked us all. Then I found Dean and it destroyed me because it meant that I mourned him with you for no reason. I spent months thinking Dad didn’t really die in that heist. Maybe I was wrong to think that it would take the same toll on you as it did on me. So forgive me if I was just trying to look out for you!”

Jo storms out of the room to notify Dean that negotiations will begin soon and Sam sighs, looking out of the window to see Arthur Ketch flipping him off. Goddamn Arthur Ketch, one of the most heartless colonels from when Sam used to be on the police force, and he’d replaced Zachariah on the first heist. “Oh, fuck.”

The phone rings in the police tent and Ketch shushes everyone loudly, pointing at an IT girl to accept the call and record it, try to reverse engineer the inevitable voice modulation.

“Hello?” Ketch asks once the line connects.

“ _Hey_ ,” the distorted voice greets amiably from the other end. “ _Ketch, is it? I thought you sounded familiar._ ”

Ketch answers, pacing slowly around the desk, “Yes, it’s me. And this is Kansas?”

“ _We’re back_ ,” Kansas affirms. “ _And we have demands. Medicine for some of the hostages, get a pen and paper. You know the drill._ ” Ketch snatches a pen and pad from one of the officers near him and clicks the pen, obnoxiously loud, and Kansas starts listing medicine, Ketch scribbling it down in block letter handwriting.

Once he’s done, Ketch says, “We need proof of life and we’re still figuring out how many hostages you have.”

“ _Proof of life will come at a later, more necessary time_ ,” Kansas promises. “ _But I will answer the question of the hostages. We have 56, both employers and visitors. No minors._ ”

No minors, that’s good. Ketch gets cocky. “Then tell me why we shouldn’t rush the building right now.”

Kansas chuckles -- just as cocky as he is. “ _Because we have Princess Gilda in here with us. Say hi, your highness._ ”

Shakily, Gilda Good’s voice comes through. “ _This is Princess Gilda Good. I am a hostage._ ”

“ _Come on, you’re our guest_ ,” Kansas corrects. “ _We’re treating her with care. She’s kept away from the other hostages. Nobody knows she’s in here except for us. And the public, if you choose to tell them._ ”

“You have to know that kidnapping a member of the royal family will bring serious repercussions,” Ketch says. “Just turn yourselves in. Do you really think you will get away with this?”

“ _Yeah_ ,” Kansas answers. “ _I said this to Inspector Winchester two years ago and I’ll say it again. We’re getting zero years._ ”

Kansas then hangs up and Ketch curses, wondering if he should keep Gilda a secret or inform the royal family.

**Saturday, 6:30 PM**   
**26 hours**   
**17,040 diamonds**   
**3,129 kg**

“Good evening,” a clear voice greets as she spreads the partitions of the tent to make her way to Ketch. “I came here straight from the airport.”

“Welcome, Naomi,” Ketch greets, stepping aside to give her room at the head of the tent. “I’m glad you could make it in time.”

Though not having much time with the Dalís originally since she and Ketch barely caught the tail end of the case after Sam Winchester’s late leave of it, Naomi was determined to obliterate them now that the case was theirs the whole time. If she had more time with them before, she was confident there wouldn’t have been a second time like now.

“When are they coming out to claim the supplies?” Naomi asks, picking up the folder of information they had from the previous heist. It says that the identified members from the past are Meg Masters, Crowley MacLeod and likely Sam Winchester. The deceased ones included Bela Talbot, Benjamin Lafitte and Balthazar Freely.

"Any minute now. When the doors open, they'll send out a mix of robbers and hostages to claim the food, water and medication," Ketch fills her in.

Naomi leans a little bit closer into Ketch's space to talk privately, suggesting, "We should shoot them when they come out."

Ketch's eyes widen but he can't contest that he liked the idea. Still, he asks, "What about the hostages?"

"Collateral damage," Naomi dismisses. "Think about it. One or two hostages down, but we could also get one or two robbers down too. Don't you like the odds?" Ketch did like the odds. It's also why he doesn't last very long with a precinct each time. But he's not fired because he gets results, no matter how questionable the method.

"You make a tempting offer," Ketch caves. He sees the doors begin to open and gets a walkie-talkie to order the gunmen waiting outside the Factory, "When they come out, shoot. To kill, to impair, dealer's choice."

One of them asks, "Sir, what if they send hostages?"

"Then too bad," Naomi says coldly.

Detroit prepares his rifle and turns to Cas, asking, "Who's going out?" They're about to claim the supplies from the police.

"You, me and Gabriel, plus three hostages," Cas answers. He pulls his mask down and Gabriel and Detroit mirror him. The three hostages already have their masks on. Cas says, "It won't take long. Whoever's nearer, just get the supplies and then we're all going back in. No big deal. Alright?" Everyone nods and Dean motions to Sam to open the doors.

The doors slowly slide open and the six of them file out of the door. Gabriel is the closest to the entrance so he reaches the man with the supplies first. As soon as his hand grabs the bags, gunfire explodes and Cas yells at the hostages to get down. They scream and Detroit ushers them back into the Factory before they can get hurt and before Cas can process what's going on, he sees Gabriel stagger backwards before falling, hand catching onto his sleeve.

“Santiago!” Cas shouts, letting his rifle fall to his side as he runs over to him.

Detroit comes back out to get the supplies, now abandoned by the sender as he runs out of firing range. Cas gets Gabriel up on his feet to go back into the Factory and Dean commands, “Cover them! Close the doors!” He and Ash fire relentlessly and aimlessly as the three robbers return. Sam shuts the doors when they come through. Once they’re closed, Dean looks back to see that Rowena is already checking on Gabriel. He walks nearer and asks, “Is he okay?”

“Just a scrape. Bandages will do, he’ll be good as new in no time,” Rowena assures, already opening up the medical kit that Jo brought over to her. Dean nods and runs a hand over his mouth in thought but he straightens up when he sees Cas's stare snap up to Meg.

"This wouldn't have happened if you didn't make us do the heist," Cas accuses, standing to make his way to Meg and giving Rowena room to work with Gabriel. Meg's eyebrows fly up like she's ready to fight and Dean readies himself to break up the two robbers.

"Woah, okay, back the fuck up, you coward," Meg laughs wryly, holding up her hands between them.

Cas narrows his eyes and takes a step closer to her. "Excuse me?"

"You were _scared_ of this heist," Meg says, coming even nearer to him to show that she's not afraid of a fight.

"I didn't even want to go," Cas says, full of spite. 

Meg throws up her hands in exasperation, saying, "Dean gave a choice. Stay or go. You _chose_ to go and now you’re _bitching_ about it?" Crowley pats her shoulder once from behind her, telling her to stop.

"Like you gave me a choice!" Cas snaps. "You guilt-tripped Dean into agreeing with this suicide run, and you expected me to just stay in Italy? It’s Dean! I’m not letting him go to the UK with a flimsy plan alone! What kind of a boyfriend am I if I did that?"

“You’re a fucking coward is what you are!” Meg explodes.

That’s when Dean’s patience runs flat -- Cas obviously didn’t want to do the heist but he did it and yet Meg was going off on him. It didn’t help that Cas’s mood since yesterday has been awful. Dean steps between them and scoffs, “He’s a coward? _Him_?” He huffs a bitter laugh and Meg’s eyes follow his, wide and angry. He leans in a little bit and asks, “Was it the whole year?"

Meg blinks, caught off guard. "What?"

Dean pushes, "You were in love with her, weren't you?"

Cas realises what Dean is getting at and he calls quietly, "Dean." A strange look passes Detroit's face.

Dean can't stop now that he's started. "That's why you wanted to do this heist so bad. But you never told her how you felt. What, were you scared that she didn’t feel the same? Now you will never know if she did because you never told Bela when you had the chance. You had your shot and you didn’t take it." Meg was at her breaking point, the fight in her lost to pain, and everyone could see it as they watched in silence. The only sound in the room was Rowena working and Gabriel's quiet breaths. Dean finishes in a low voice, "So don’t talk about being a coward."

Finally, Cas calls again, " _Dean_. Stop it."

Dean stares at Meg for a few seconds longer, making sure she had nothing left to say before he finally looks back at Rowena and Gabriel to ask, "Is he good?"

"I'm good," Gabriel assures as Rowena finishes up the bandaging. "But can I just stick to guard duty for now?"

"Yeah. Sam and Ash will be with you," Dean says and the three men walk off to where the hostages are, Sam and Ash quietly making sure Gabriel is alright as they leave. "Meg, you're gonna do gold with Jo, Crowley and Eileen. Rowena, you can join them once you're done here. Cas and Detroit to diamonds. I'll talk to Naomi and Ketch."

"Dean, I want to talk to you," Cas cuts in.

Dean takes in a breath. He knows he was out of line with Meg. He nods and lets the other robbers disperse before he says, "I know, okay? I was kinda harsh."

"Kinda? Try very," Cas corrects him, looking annoyed. "You know she can't do anything about Bela now."

"I know." Dean frowns and looks out of a window to peer at the tent. "It just came out. I hated the way she talked to you."

Cas gazes at him, thinking, and says, "We're all tense. I'm worried about Gabriel, she's worried about the plan." Though he was the one who confronted Meg, it had only been in the heat of the moment out of concern for his brother. Now that it was over, he knew everyone needed to calm down.

"I'll apologise later, okay? I swear," Dean says. "Listen, I need to go update Adam and Jess, they've gotta be worried."

"I'll see you with the diamonds later," Cas replies, nodding, turning to catch up with Detroit.

"You were _scared_ of this heist."

"Excuse me?"

Toni Bevell had crept out of the vents in the Factory to hear the Dalís arguing in the main hall. After she saw one of the robbers get shot down, the extent of their injuries unknown, Toni took that opportunity to sneak into the Factory. She knew they would be in disarray after coming to their bearings. Sure enough, the argument proved her right and they didn't even notice her coming in.

She knows the dumb fucking police officers outside must think she's slacking off. When she comes out with all the Dalís' heads on a stick, they will know not to mess with an MI6 agent.

She peers out of the doorway to scape her surroundings -- about eleven Dalís there, one injured and a redhead caring for him. Meg Masters is arguing with a dark-haired man. Toni can recognise Crowley and Sam as well but the other faces are nameless to her. Uncaring of what they're bickering about but knowing a distraction when she sees one, Toni uses the commotion to creep past to the offices undetected. She's not MI6 for nothing; Toni is cautious as she avoids every camera she sees. They definitely have someone doing surveillance for them.

Toni knows Abaddon Knight got lucky by escaping her cuffs while all the Dalís were busy and she could hide among the disorder. She's more than certain that nobody was checking security tapes then and that's how she could remain undetected for so long. She ended up killing two of them. Toni was determined to kill all eleven Dalís she could see. There is no way of ensuring they won't do this again, even if she takes out their leader Kansas, so eliminating all of them one by one will be best. She has already been given the green light to kill them.

She's vastly outnumbered one to eleven but she will take her chances. Once she gets rid of the one who gives the orders, the rest will be lost sheep waiting to be herded into the slaughterhouse.

Once she gets past into the offices, she looks into each room one by one until she locates one with an old-generation phone. Before she can attempt to mess with it, she hears footsteps approaching and ducks into the bathroom, her fingers edging onto her gun's trigger in case she gets caught.

"Adam?"

Toni doesn't hear the muted click of the phone but instead the crackle of a walkie-talkie. That means Adam cannot be too far from the Factory if he is within walkie-talkie distance. She'll let Ketch know to look for any abandoned areas near the Factory where a base can be set up - a warehouse, an old store.

" _Is he okay? I saw it on the news._ "

"Yeah, he's fine, just a graze. Stuck him with guard duty for now though," the man says. From where she's standing, Toni can't get a good look at his face, only the back of his head. Since Kansas's voice on the calls to the tent has voice modification, she can't tell if this is Kansas or a random Dalí. "I'll check in with you later, alright?"

" _Okay. Update me if anything happens._ " The line crackles out as both ends stop the transmission.

Once that's done, the man picks up the ancient phone and says, "Hello. I think you brought an old friend." _So_ he's _Kansas._ "Inspector Naomi Intel... Welcome back to the heist. I'm honoured you caught the earliest flight." There's a pause and then Kansas says, "He's alright. I have to admit that I didn't expect you all to fire when you weren't aware of how much of the supply team were hostages."

After a moment, Kansas says, "You both famously don't have a conscience. I can't say that your actions are entirely unpredictable. Maybe we'll send out only hostages in the next supply runs. You can have fifty dead hostages on your ledger while we rob this place clean. Try me again, I have nothing to lose."

He pauses a while longer before hanging up and walks out of the office. Toni comes back out once she's sure he won't return. She peeks out of the office, seeing Kansas disappear into the elevator, and then turns her attention to the phone.

Sure enough, they got a call from Kansas about half an hour after they dragged a Dalí back into the building. Depending on what Kansas says, they'll know if they shot a hostage or a robber.

Ketch picks up and tells Mick to get the call on speaker. Kansas greets, " _Hello. I think you brought an old friend._ " They shot a robber.

Naomi smiles humourlessly to herself. "Hello, Kansas. You must know how difficult it is to get a last-minute flight to London but I wouldn't miss this for the world."

" _Inspector Naomi Intel... Welcome back to the heist. I'm honoured you caught the earliest flight_ ," Kansas says. Though his tone seems amicable, it's not a stretch to believe that it's pure sarcasm.

"How is the shot Dalí?" Ketch asks.

Kansas answers, " _He's alright. I have to admit that I didn't expect you all to fire when you weren't aware of how much of the supply team were hostages._ " They have the upper hand right now. No matter how temporarily, they had one over them. Unpredictable.

Ketch grins. "We can't all be Sam Winchester. How is he?"

Kansas blatantly ignores their question and continues talking like Ketch never said anything, " _You both famously don't have a conscience. I can't say that your actions are entirely unpredictable. Maybe we'll send out only hostages in the next supply runs. You can have fifty dead hostages on your ledger while we rob this place clean. Try me again, I have nothing to lose._ "

"Everyone has something to lose," Naomi remarks, daring. "It's just a matter of how long until we find that for you."

The line goes dead after she says that. Mick nods once to Ketch as he stops recording the phone line, turning to his phone as Ketch looks to Naomi. "Where the hell is that MI6 agent?" The phone suddenly starts ringing again and Mick abruptly straightens up to record again. Ketch frowns, going back to the phone, asking, "Back so soon?"

He picks up and a clear British voice says, " _This is Agent Bevell from MI6._ " Though the voice filter is still there, it's undeniably not Kansas and most of the robbers were definitely American. The only known Brit on the team was Crowley and it's definitely not him. 

Naomi raises her eyebrows, leaning forward in interest. "Speak of the devil. What are you doing with the phone?"

" _To let you know that they do have an outside man. Kansas is in the Factory, they have someone else outside by the name of Adam_ ," Toni informs. " _They communicate with him via radio. I couldn't get a good look at the model so I can't give you a more specific range to locate him other than a 4-to-20-mile radius from the Factory. Get looking._ "

She hangs up on her end and Naomi says, "You go look for abandoned shops and buildings. I'll hold down the fort here."

**Saturday, 9:00 PM**   
**28 hours**   
**17,048 diamonds**   
**3,427 kg**

After enough hours have passed, Dean went to find Meg in the foundry where gold was being handled. Gabriel insisted that he felt much better and offered to take over Meg while Dean spoke to her.

In the hallway, Dean starts, "Meg, I'm sorry."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," she says half-heartedly. "You were right anyway."

"Doesn't mean I should've said it," Dean insists.

Meg finally pulls her defeated gaze up from the floor to Dean. She hesitates like she's contemplating if talking to Dean is a good idea. "Bela... I admit it, okay? I'm in over my head with the heist, with doing Bela's plan proud and honouring Benny and Balthazar. Cas isn't a coward."

Dean nods slowly, finding something to say. "Did you and Bela ever..."

She shrugs, uncertain. "I don't know... but I never told her."

**3 years ago**

Near the property of the house that Kansas taught his heist classes on, there is a lake that the robbers liked going dipping in sometimes. Meg knew that Kansas and Angeles often went on their own and that Salem, Paris and Rome liked to cool down there after a long class. It's a nice area; a clear lake that's still most days and soft grass that tickles your feet.

Meg wanted to go there after Kansas taught them what to do if they got caught by the police. It's a lot and she had to commit it to memory. They had a lot to remember, actually. Meg's memory isn't always reliable so she liked to have some time to herself after a few lessons to review. She'd never paid much attention in school but this is a heist, this is _her thing_.

But then there in the lake, a stream of brown hair breaks through the water, dripping at the ends. Meg slows her pace.

Bela turns to look over her shoulder and grins, waving. "Hey, Meg. Come in, the water's cool." She has on a plain red shirt, already soaked and translucent against her skin. Meg goes into the water, feeling her own shirt cling to her as she wades over to Bela.

"How'd you find the class today?"

"A lot. Police plans, the science of the gold..." Bela trails off, flashing her a brilliant smile. "But I think it's manageable. It has to be for all that money and gold. How did you find it?"

"A lot," Meg echoes. "Can't believe this plan took half his life."

Bela smiles, "Is it really that unbelievable?"

"It's a long time to dedicate to something," Meg clarifies.

Bela nods thoughtfully and moves closer, the water rippling gently with her. "Well, forget about the class for now. We're in the lake."

Meg frowns, running her arm through the water. "I know it's pretty and all but what's so great about the lake?"

Bela gets into her personal space and grins, her fingers dancing up Meg's arm. "The sun, the breeze. You and me. Meg, this is the greatest place in the world and I have been to many." Meg holds her breath as Bela touches her cheek. "We're in _the_ _lake_ , Masters."

"Yeah," Meg exhales.

Impulsively, she presses a quick kiss to Bela's lips before pulling away, startled by her own actions. Bela stares at her before she cradles Meg's face to kiss her again. Meg's heart goes a thousand miles a second, having Bela so close to her. Though they would be leaving for the heist any day now, it was still exhilarating to feel like they had time.

Bela finally breaks away and a wide smile splits across her face, the sun in the water reflected in her eyes. She asks as if she hadn't just rocked Meg's world, "We're still going to move to Spain after we hit Vegas, right?"

"We are," Meg manages to say. She doesn't find the words 'I love you'.

Adam leaves Jess in charge of surveillance while he goes to do some groundwork. Since this heist was going to be harder than the first, Adam had offered to go look at the tent for them irregularly, see if he can catch something. He's like their ear on the ground while Jess is their eye in the sky.

He doesn't find much; there's still some people milling around watching the Factory despite the time and of course the police are still discussing among themselves on what to do. Gilda just waltzing into the Factory was a damn miracle. Adam wasn't sure how long they could have held their ground if they didn't have someone of national value in there with them especially with people like Naomi and Ketch heading the negotiation.

He's about to head back to Jess when someone shoves him into an alleyway. Adam regains his bearings and tries to get away but a rough grab of his arm pulls him right back. Adam is pushed up against the wall and he blinks, eyes adjusting to the darkness of the alley, as a face pieces itself together by the lights that hit him from the pavement.

"Adam Milligan, right?" Ketch asks, his grip on Adam firm and unrelenting. "I heard that there's an Adam working with them. Imagine my surprise when I checked with the previous team and found out that they found an Adam Milligan. How coincidental that you're here."

"Look, man, I don't know what you're talking about but --"

"Shut up," Ketch mutters, bringing Adam from the wall to the concrete ground. Adam groans when it scrapes his face. He hears the jingle of handcuffs before feeling the cold steel on his wrists. "Adam Milligan, you're under arrest."


	3. DAY THREE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW/  
> Punching  
> Detainment  
> Gun violence/Getting shot  
> Mentions of blood

**4 months ago**

"Yo, scoot over."

Cas rolls his eyes but does make room on the long bench that Meg's biggest balcony has. Gabriel settles down next to him, holding three bottles of beer in a hand and a small radio in the other. Cas eyes the bottles and asks, "Why do you have three?"

"It's for me," Detroit says from behind and Cas moves yet again so Detroit can sit next to Gabriel. Gabriel passes the bottles around, one per man, and they clink the tips together before taking a swig from their respective bottles. It's pretty late at night and Dean had long drifted off to sleep, gun under his pillow, but Cas still had difficulty sleeping despite it all. Gabriel and Detroit joined him sometimes because Gabriel is his brother and Detroit knows what it's like to be alone.

"Man, good beer is so damn hard to get in prison. This shit's a blessing," Gabriel cracks, kissing his bottle.

Detroit chuckles lightly, saying, "Only if you don't know who has some."

Gabriel gapes at him. "You had good beer and you didn't share? We were in the same cell!"

"What if you were a snitch?" Detroit continues teasing. "I'm not giving up quality alcohol for you."

"Tightass," Gabriel mutters, leaning against Cas's side as he groans. "Detroit is a whole bitch."

"Why did you pick Detroit?" Cas suddenly asks. "And why won't you tell us your real name? You know all of our names."

Detroit fumbles with an answer. "Detroit is... special to me. And I don't think it's appropriate for you all to know who I am."

" _I_ know your name," Gabriel points out. "We're doing fine." Cas nods to agree with him.

"No, it's -- It's complicated. I wish I could explain but I think it's better if we leave me anonymous," Detroit says. He takes a drink from his bottle and looks down at it, picking at the label with his nails. "I don't want to be in the way of this heist."

Cas frowns, trying to think of what about his identity could possibly do anything to the plan. The worst thing he could come up with was an undercover cop and it seemed pretty outlandish. Gabriel shared a cell with Detroit for at least two years which is way longer than Cas would expect a cop to stay undercover in a prison for and especially if Detroit was getting smuggled items like alcohol. Maybe he knew someone on the team.

"What, you know someone here?" Gabriel asks.

"If someone here knew me, wouldn't they have pointed me out by now?" Detroit replies and Gabriel falls back into silent thought. Cas tries to figure it out. Nobody from the first one knew him so it has to be someone from the second. But Adam also wasn't here for the classes so maybe...

"Enough, it's not on a need-to-know basis," Detroit interrupts Cas's thoughts. "And I don't see why you need to know my name."

Cas says, the reason now haunting after what happened in the first heist, "In the previous one, after we found out Abaddon was in the bank with us, we shared our real names with each other. Nobody wants to die with the name of a city. Detroit, I cannot promise that you, that we, can get out of this alive. It's harder than the first try."

That actually gets Detroit thinking but he eventually stops himself. "I'll take my chances."

He finishes off his bottle and the conversation gets cabled.

**Sunday, 9:30 AM**   
**41 hours**   
**17,100 diamonds**   
**5,364 kg**

After just passing over 40 hours in the Factory, Detroit and Cas had come up with 100 new synthetic diamonds and Eileen's team in the forgery melted over 5,300 kilograms of gold into pieces of paper. Gabriel's wound had begun to heal and he'd already gone back to help work on the gold as well. Ash was making sure their communication is still encrypted and all in all, it had seemed like their minor setback yesterday wasn't that bad.

That was an hour ago. On the 41st hour at 9:30 AM, Jess reached Dean through the radios to tell him with panic that Adam hadn't come back since last night and that he was likely arrested.

Dean had gotten concerned about Adam's safety because he'd set up the small television set in one of the offices and checked the news, then he asked Ash to monitor it as well -- nothing about Adam Milligan. Arresting someone related to two of the biggest heists in history would have made front-page news overnight so Dean was more than afraid for Adam. Chances are that he's being detained in the tent without an arrest warrant. He won't be able to rescue Adam unless he gets in that tent.

He considered anyone he knows that's on the outside; Jess was an option since she was the easiest to reach and already knew their plans but it's a risky mission and Dean knows Sam will eat him alive if he uses her so she's out. The Banes twins, Florence and Orlando, who helped Meg escape in the first heist would have been possible if Max wasn't literally in max prison right now for a different heist and an escape attempt. They had enough on their hands. Anael, Charlie and Dorothy were possible too but they wanted out for a reason. Dean didn't want to pull them back in.

It's possible that they'll have to send someone from the inside to rescue Adam but who? They won't fall for the same trick twice.

Dean relayed this information to his team, later on, gathering them in a solitary hallway and explaining, "Jess radioed me this morning. Adam's been arrested." The worry on everyone's face is clear but it's Detroit's expression that has Dean thinking. He never met Adam because Adam never came to the lessons so why did he look so distraught about it?

"Do we have a plan?" Detroit asks. "We can't let Adam stay there for too long. This is Ketch and Naomi."

This _is_ Ketch and Naomi who are obviously a far cry from Sam and Zachariah. They weren't afraid to kill innocent people to get to them. Dean tries, "I'm working on it."

"I'll go out and get him," Detroit offers, finger tracing the trigger of his rifle.

"Hell no," Gabriel cuts over. "Don't you remember what happened yesterday? If you go out there, you'll die!"

Crowley points out, "Unlike before, they'll actually know you're a robber. You'll be dead before you get five steps out. Won't be very helpful for our dear Adam when you're dead, will you?"

Dean agrees, "Nobody's leaving, not until I think of something. Until then, we have to keep operations going." Detroit looks like he wants to argue but he doesn't say anything else, stepping away from the conversation. Sighing, Dean asks, "Cas, can I talk to you alone?"

Cas nods and walks off to a corner with Dean. Once nobody else can hear them, lost in their own conversations, Cas asks, "Are you really leaving Adam there?"

"What do you want me to do, go out guns blazing? I can if you want but you and I both know that once I go out, I'm not coming back," Dean says. When Cas doesn't have any suggestions, Dean says, "I wanted to ask you if you can watch Detroit, make sure he doesn't try to sneak out to save Adam or something."

Cas raises an eyebrow. "You think he'll do that?"

"He's the one who wanted to get him out of there himself," Dean reminds. "It's a suicide mission. Keep him occupied with the diamonds. Take Gabriel with you since he and Detroit get along the best."

Cas eventually nods and confides, "Dean, I'm beginning to get worried about this heist. Every hour that passes, I'm more and more convinced that it will get worse..."

Dean doesn't know how to respond because as much as he won't say it out loud to unsettle the other Dalís, he agreed. He knew the heist was a risky one since Meg laid them out on their dining table. When he heard from Jess that Adam was gone, Dean understood he should've told Meg no and sent her on her way. He knew this plan was already crumbling around them. It didn't seem so bad now but he knew better. Once you hit rock bottom, you can only go to hell.

He tries to placate Cas, "Adam's a strong guy. I'm sure he'll be fine until we can get to him."

"Will that be before or after we leave the Factory?" Cas asks, eyeing Detroit. The former prisoner already looks like he's plotting an escape out of the Factory. Dean wondered why he was this concerned about a man he never met. Sure, Adam knew all their plans but it's not like he would give them up.

"Before. I'll get him out as soon as I can. He's my brother, I can't leave him in that tent," Dean assures. "I just need your help to keep Detroit busy until I come up with a plan. Let him make more diamonds, anything."

"I will," Cas says. "But promise me you won't go either."

Dean hesitates -- he didn't know if it was possible to save Adam from Naomi and Ketch without at least one of them going out to bargain for his release. He takes Cas's hand into his own and presses a light kiss to his knuckles, slightly scratched from all the diamonds he's been handling, and says regretfully, "Cas, I can't promise you that."

Cas purses his lips together. "If you need to send someone out, I'll go."

"Cas, no --"

"Dean, I will _not_ let you get caught," Cas insists. "I'm just someone making some diamonds. I barely did much in the first heist. You planned every single thing we did for the heist and in retaliation. Whatever happens to me will be much better compared to you. If someone has to go, I will."

Dean knows to argue with Cas is pointless so he relents but he would never send him out. But now he had to come up with a plan they could all agree on. He settled instead to say, "I love you."

"I love you too," Cas echoes, smiling wearily. "Get us out of here so you can give me that ring, Kansas."

**5 months ago**

Meg raises her hand. "What if one of us gets caught?"

"On purpose or accident?" Jo asks, turning in her seat to look at Meg. "Because let me tell you, I'm not doing another rescue mission like that again."

"We've been over this. The same trick won't work twice. Plus, Orlando and Florence won't be able to help us this time so moot point. Not enough people to pull off a hijack like before," Dean says from the front of the room.

Eileen frowns. "So what's your new plan?"

Dean clasps his hands together as Cas says, "There is no plan."

Silence befalls the room before Rowena's shrill 'You must be joking' cuts right through it. Before Dean can say anything, Ash complains, "Dude, I so don't wanna go to jail."

"None of you are going to jail!" Dean says loudly, raising his hands in a placating manner. "Just let us explain."

Cas continues for him, "We said before that the heist will be unpredictable. New inspector, new investigation protocols, new territory, no same strategies. We're not even going to be in America anymore. And for those who have done heists in the UK, just because it's familiar doesn't mean you're ready. We can never be ready and the first heist proved that."

Dean nods and adds on, "I can't come up with a plan because they could do anything. _We_ could do anything. Maybe we have an argument and throw someone out for real, and not pretend as we did with Meg. Maybe we take one step out of the Factory and get shot dead. Maybe they arrest one of us and keep us without a warrant. A hundred things can happen and I can't plan for all of it." Everyone listens intently as Dean explained himself. "So in light of unpredictability, I don't have a plan."

"We'll improvise," Cas says. "However it happens, _if_ it does, we'll deal with it accordingly."

"I don't like this," Jess says, unsure, as Sam rubs her back comfortingly.

"I don't either but the best I can do for this scenario is improvise," Dean says.

**Sunday, 1:00 PM**   
**44 hours**   
**17,112 diamonds**   
**5,811 kg**

Adam is startled awake by a loud bang on the table and he winces as he feels the metal cuffs pull his wrists back together. His cheek was scratched by the pavement last night which left a strange feeling on the skin but it no longer hurt. His wrists were turning red from the metal and he had a bruise on his jaw from when Ketch hit him after bringing him into the tent.

By now, Jess must have realised he was arrested and informed Dean. As much as he trusted his brother, Adam was still concerned because the fact remained that they did not have any rescue plans. He said he would improvise so Adam will wait.

Naomi comes through the parting and sits across from him at the desk he's been confined to. They're keeping him in the tent instead of jail so they probably didn't have a warrant. If only there was a way Adam could tell all those people watching outside the tent that he was there. He knew a part of them thought the Dalís were amazing because they didn't get caught and they didn't steal from them. Plus, since Gabriel got shot for getting supplies for hostages, it's not like the police are winning their favour.

"Good afternoon, Adam," Naomi greets with a tight smile. It's unsettling, like swimming with sharks.

"What do you want?" Adam asks, trying but failing to keep his attitude out of his voice.

"Isn't it a funny coincidence that you were present at both heists?" Naomi asks, holding what looks like a transcribed testimonial by Jody Mills that Adam was there at the first heist followed by another transcription of a call that says Kansas contacted someone named Adam. The second testimonial makes Adam's chest seize because it can only mean two things: 1) Someone was a snitch or 2) Someone else was in the Factory. Either option, Adam had no way of warning Dean. He'd left his radio with Jess and even if he didn't, they would have taken it off of him after his arrest.

"So?" Adam asks, playing himself off as nonchalant. "Maybe I like travelling."

Naomi's grin turns wry. "You visit heist venues often?"

"They're historical, aren't they?" Adam challenges. Naomi eyes him like she's trying to crack him but Adam holds his ground. Eventually, she gives up, asking Mick Davies to watch him as she goes to talk to Ketch.

Mick stands by the partition, leaving only himself and Adam in that closed-off area of the tent. Adam glances at him and knows him as one of the ITs. He's probably an officer who's just technologically proficient if he's been asked to guard him. Mick moves closer and Adam straightens up, wary.

Quietly, Mick says, "Palermo."

Adam's gaze snaps up to him, wide-eyed with surprise and Mick quickly averts his gaze. Dean, Cas, Sam and Jess lived in Palermo for the past two years. He recollects himself and whispers as unnoticeably as he can, "Kansas?"

"Dean," Mick affirms. "If you have anything to tell him, I can try to get the message to him."

 _Son of a bitch, Dean got us an inside man._ Adam bites back an excited smile and gets back to the matter at hand. "I need you to tell him that there's either an informant or that they're not alone in the Factory."

When Mick watched the way Ketch handled the Dalí case alongside Naomi two years ago, he felt completely sick to his stomach. While they didn't get to do much, they were still so eager to kill them for doing nothing. They took notes they printed themselves and after the Dalís left, they discovered that they melted gold. Though, who did use gold reserves? They were useless, at least to Mick.

Then two years later on his way home, he was stopped by a man and a woman, one of which he recognised as Meg Masters AKA Vegas. The other had brown hair and green eyes that very faintly reminded Mick of Sam Winchester. Different shades and style but still the same careful gaze.

Meg pressed a gun into his side and told him to act normal and bring them home. Mick complied, more out of curiosity than fear, and did bring them back to his apartment. Once they were alone, the man introduced himself.

"My name is Dean," he said. "But you know me as Kansas."

That was the start of it. They offered him money, $3,000,000 in cash in a suitcase Dean brought. Once they were certain they'd bought Mick's silence and loyalty, they filled him in; They had another heist planned for five months later at the Diamonds Factory at Hatton Garden. They had a bigger team this time though Dean was against telling him everyone's identities. After he was aware of the impending heist, Dean told him, "You can be our inside man with the police and keep this 3,000,000 or Meg can show you the suppressor she bought last week."

It was either death or life with money but to Mick, it was more than that. He didn't even care about the possibility of Meg shooting him in the head or about the money he stands to gain. What he understood was that the Dalís could have done a lot worse in the bank. They could have hurt or killed hostages, killed any officer that went in, killed Abaddon, Jack Kline or the governor. They could have stolen money that actually belonged to people. The facts were that they didn't do any of that. They took what they made and left, and they paid for it with three lives that upon further investigation, Mick realised two had left families behind waiting for them. For the money they didn't steal, Mick watched as they smeared Crowley's name with a horrifying human trafficking case he wasn't involved in. He stood by as his colleagues shot two of them point-blank in the head. He watched Naomi and Ketch allow Abaddon to go on a murder spree on a bunch of people who were just printing their own money.

So long story short, Mick agreed. Last night, he saw Ketch hauling a blonde man into the tent, handcuffed with a bruised jaw. He recognised him from the few details Dean had shared with him. Because Jody Mills from the first heist said Adam Milligan was involved and Sam Winchester apparently tried to interrogate him but failed, Dean confirmed that Adam was part of their team and that he was working on the outside. He told Mick that on the off-chance Adam got caught, he was trusting Mick to protect him.

"If anything happens to Adam, I will put a bullet in you," Dean had threatened.

They put him behind a plastic partition at a small white desk for interrogation. They're planning to keep him there for as long as they can before Dean becomes aware of Adam's arrest so Adam was allowed to get some sleep. This morning, Naomi woke him up by slamming her hands down on the table as hard as she could. After exchanging some quiet words, Naomi left the secluded area and asked Mick to watch him since there were more than enough IT-proficient officers there.

Mick stepped in and saw Adam try to read him. Adam looks pretty young, at least when compared to Dean, Meg, Crowley or Sam. Mick says, hoping the section isn't bugged, "Palermo."

Adam stares up at him with shock as he asks, "Kansas?"

"Dean," Mick says, hoping to God that Adam knows Dean's name and that it means something to him. It does because he can see Adam trying not to burst out laughing in triumph. "If you have anything to tell him, I can try to get the message to him."

"I need you to tell him that there's either an informant or that they're not alone in the Factory," Adam says, pretending that he's not speaking to Mick just as Mick acts like he's not listening.

Mick mutters, "The MI6 agent here has been missing since yesterday."

Adam freezes. "MI6?"

"I'll tell them as soon as I can," Mick promises just before Ketch comes in. Mick is sent out promptly but he stays near the partition in an attempt to catch anything else that can be of use to Dean.

Ketch tells Mick to leave the area so he can talk to Adam alone. Despite being friends for years, sometimes Ketch thinks Mick doesn't really like him that much. It's not like Ketch cares what he thinks anyway.

"Hello, Adam. Remember me?" Ketch asks, unable to stop himself from smiling. It's the first time the police has gotten a step over the Dalís.

Adam glares up at him. "You shoved me to the ground and punched me because I said you were hurting me."

"Don't be a criminal and maybe I'll go easier on you," Ketch says, sitting down on the other side of the table. "Give me names."

"No," Adam says. It's admirable how full of determination Adam was to keep his fellow robbers safe but Ketch knew he could break him if he had time. It just needs to be before Kansas finds out about Adam's detainment and comes up with a plan to get him out. Ketch had already gone off-book for it. He arrested him without a warrant and dragged him back to the tent as quietly as he could so Adam's arrest wouldn't be all over the media and they would have time. He could get kicked off the force if this is discovered but this also means he gets to do whatever the hell he wants to do to Adam.

Ketch leans forward and smacks Adam across his left cheek, catching Adam by surprise. "Can only get worse from there, Milligan. Names, now."

Adam bends forward to be a little closer to Ketch as if he's about to spill everything but he just gives him a shit-eating smile. "No."

Ketch hits him again and he looks out the partition to see Mick flinch away. 

**Sunday, 4:00 PM**   
**47 hours**   
**17,124 diamonds**   
**6,258 kg**

Eileen passes the newly pressed gold paper to Jo very carefully and the latter slips them into the book spines. There are about 400 pages in each spine and they've already filled quite a stack of books with golden pages.

She is concerned about Sam in her gold team because Adam is apparently his and Dean's half-brother and Sam was clearly worried for him. Not that Eileen wasn't but obviously it was getting to Sam more. Plus, Eileen never met Adam.

At some point, Sam accidentally drops a tied up stack of gold paper that Meg thankfully catches in time so Eileen decides it's time to pull him aside and talk to him. Once they're in the hallway alone, Sam apologises, "I'm sorry, if I'm being a bother, I'll go switch out duties with Rowena."

"Stop it," Eileen dismisses. "Just tell me how you're feeling and we can try to make you feel better."

Sam nods hesitantly but confides in her anyway. "I don't trust Ketch or Naomi. I never met Naomi in person but we know she doesn't care and Ketch is a heartless bastard. They could kill Adam and we wouldn't find out until it's too late."

"I'm sure they won't. They need him for information," Eileen reminds. "He's more useful to them alive than dead."

Sam draws in a deep breath, wringing a hand in stress. "And then there's Jess. She's alone out there. She can't go out because if someone on the team recognises her, she'll be caught and we'll lose our entire surveillance team. She's gotta be so scared, she's never done this before." Eileen's more than certain that Jess would be handling herself fine. Maybe with a little uncertainty, but Eileen had faith that Jess knew what to do if she was left alone to this duty. Dean wouldn't have picked her up for the heist if he didn't think she couldn't take care of herself.

Despite it, Eileen understood Sam's worry for his girlfriend. She tries to assure, "Jess will be fine. She's smart. They couldn't catch her even if she gave them a step-by-step plan."

Sam smiles weakly, unconvinced not because he didn't think Jess was capable but because he knew what Ketch and Naomi were capable of.

Toni is certain that Naomi and Ketch have gotten their outside surveillance man captured which means that the robbers have no security now. If they didn't, then it just goes to show that the basic police force is for the incompetent.

She hadn't been able to catch any real names, only the city names said by hostages or by robbers around said hostages. So far, she knows that Paris and Salem dropped out as she hadn't heard their names called. There were new ones -- Coventry, Santiago, Houston, Palermo, Nebraska and Detroit. As far as she's aware, Coventry is their main medic, Palermo is heading gold production with Santiago and Houston's aid, Nebraska is handling all the technological issues and Detroit is assisting Angeles with something else she hasn't been able to discover yet.

What matters is that she now knew a little bit more on how they operated which means her main targets are Kansas and Coventry. Kick the king piece off the chessboard and they lose. Kick the medic and they're dead.

She secures the suppressor to her gun and sets off to find Kansas, avoiding the cameras just in case.

Michael holds his new diamond up to the ceiling light to check the quality. He preferred genuine jewels to synthetic ones but both sell. He understood Castiel's obsession with the gems. In fact, he shared it. That's why he's a master jeweller.

Castiel won't stop looking at him and Michael is more than certain that Dean asked him to watch him. He didn't need to have a babysitter, he knew running out without a plan would be detrimental to the heist but he can't help the sense of urgency that seized in him when Dean told them that Adam had been arrested last night.

Eventually, Michael got tired of his stare and puts the diamond into the box sitting between them, saying, "If you have something to say then say it."

"Why are you so secretive?" Castiel finally asks. "What, have you done something in your past you're not proud of? It can't be that bad if Gabriel likes you."

"Because it's _not important_ to this heist," Michael reasserts.

"You know someone here," Castiel deduces.

Michael ignores him. "Enough."

Castiel relents and doesn't push that anymore but admits, "Dean asked me to make sure you wouldn't try to go out on your own."

"I don't need you to watch me. I was just concerned," Michael mutters, returning his attention to producing his next diamond. Castiel stares at him -- unnerving to most but it didn't disturb Michael. Meg had joked before that Michael and Castiel could have a stare-off to the death.

Castiel joins him in going back to the diamonds and mumbles, "If you told me, I won't tell anyone. Not even Dean. I won't even give you any judgement or response if that's what you want."

"I don't have anything to tell you," Michael says, pointedly not looking at Castiel.

**Sunday, 7:30 PM**   
**51 hours**   
**17,140 diamonds**   
**6,854 kg**

Cas told Dean that he didn't manage to get anything out of Detroit other than the promise that he wasn't going to play a hero. It'll have to do for now. Dean put Sam and Gabriel in charge of the hostages and switched them out to Rowena and Ash will go down to the foundry to assist Eileen with gold. Cas and Detroit were left in the basement with the diamonds.

Thankfully, the police seem to be quiet today. They didn't even fire at them when they sent people out to get supplies. They probably decided not to underestimate Dean's threat to send out hostages. Though, Dean had a feeling that their silence was also because they had Adam in their hands. He just hoped that Mick will keep his word and watch him.

Jess told him to find a secluded room, saying she had information from Mick that was critical but she didn't want anyone else to hear it. He went to the office with the phones so she can tell him in private.

Once he was alone, he turned on his radio, connecting to Jess's one only. "Jess?"

" _Dean, hi_ ," Jess greets, relieved. " _Today has been so stressful._ "

"I get that. How are you doing?" Dean asks, turning away from the door to stand in front of the desk.

" _I've been jumpy all day but it seems like nobody knows I exist so I guess I'm doing well_ ," Jess says. " _Listen, Mick called earlier to say Adam had a message for you -- there's either an informant among you or someone else is in the bank, probably an MI6 agent._ "

Dean's heart stops for a second. "No."

" _It has to be because Mick said there's gotta be a reason why they knew Adam was around. Jody isn't on this case. Someone must have heard you radio Adam and told Ketch and Naomi where he was_ ," Jess says and Dean finally feels the panic begin to rise in him because he can't fucking believe there's another Abaddon. Granted, this time it might not be a hostage but it's still someone trying to kill them and successfully hiding from them for so long yet again.

"Jess, can you check the cameras again, see if --"

“ _Dean, behind you!_ ”

It feels like a whole minute has passed before Dean processes a bang and liquid spilling over his hand. He looks back down at his body, his vision blurring as his red suit grows darker. He crumbles to his knees, unable to stand as he tries to process what the hell just happened. The shooter at the doorway has a mask over the lower half of their face but the body figure suggests that it's a woman. She disappears down the hallway and Dean barely grasps his radio.

He hears Jess's voice by his ear from the radio hooked to his shoulder, broadcasted to all the other Dalís, saying desperately, " _Kansas has been shot, he's in the office, someone please go help him._ "

Dean's sure it doesn't take very long but it feels like decades until he feels two people run to his side. He can hear Sam shouting, "Who shot Dean?"

Cas cups his face between diamond-dusted fingers, calling, "Dean? Dean!" Dean tries to focus on Cas but he can barely hold onto the image of his blue eyes. "Say something."

"I --" Dean's coughs cut him off and Cas watches, horrified, as Dean's blurry eyes stare at his bloodied hand before mumbling almost incoherently, "I don’t have gloves."

Cas turns to Sam and orders, "Get Rowena and the supplies!” Sam nods and quickly leaves, shouting into his radio, and Cas presses a hand to Dean's abdomen where the blood was spilling out too fast for Cas to feel like everything will be okay. “Stay with me, Dean.”

When the blood covers his hand, staining the edges of his red sleeves and slipping between his fingers, Cas cusses under his breath and pulls away to unzip his jumpsuit. He pulls his shirt off so he can use it to press on Dean's wound. The cloth is a better absorber than the skin, after all. Dean is starting to drift and Cas insists, lifting one hand off the cloth to pat his cheek gently. “Dean, look at me.”

Dean opens his mouth slightly like he wants to say something but no sound comes out.

Sam returns with most of the Dalís with him. They'd already been on their way to the office so thankfully, Crowley and Rowena weren't too far away. Rowena has her medical supplies with her and she orders them to make room for her and Crowley to work. Rowena sets her box down and turns to the other Dalís, asking, "Who else has experience?"

"Me," Jo says, raising her hand. Rowena nods to her to tell her to come over and Cas reluctantly steps away to make room. He didn't want to leave Dean alone and he can tell from Sam's face that he didn't want to either.

Crowley finally steps into his role as second-in-command and orders, handing tools to his mother as he speaks, "Castiel, Detroit, Meg, Eileen and Sam, look for whoever shot him. Let Jessica guide you to find her." He has his hand on his radio so Jess can hear him too. "Ash and Gabriel, stay here with us. I've no doubt the shooter might come for our medic next and we'll need help. Ash, watch and guard the hostages."

Dean chokes on his own breath as Rowena tends to him and Cas finds that it's getting harder to breathe. The image of Dean, jumpsuit drenched in dark blood as he can't find an easy way to inhale just strikes fear right into Cas's heart. He'd never felt so afraid.

_Who shot Dean?_

Meg eyes Cas as the group made their way down another hallway. They'd split off -- Eileen and Sam as one unit and Detroit, Cas and Meg as another. With Cas knowing as much of the plan as Dean did and being so vulnerable, Detroit insisted that more people stuck with him. Eileen had talked Sam's fear into vengeful anger but Cas's remained in terror.

"Are you okay?" Meg finally asks. Despite their argument yesterday, Meg still cared for him. "We can look for the shooter on our own if you're not up to it. You can switch out with Gabriel."

"I'm fine," Cas lies. Detroit and Meg don't believe him but move forward -- they didn't have time. They had to find the shooter before they got another one.

Jess's voice crackles through their radios, saying, " _She's in an office, I can't tell which one but Meg, Detroit and Cas, you're in the area._ "

Meg nods to an office and says, "We'll split up and get these three." Nodding, Cas and Detroit each get an office and go in. Two minutes later, Cas and Meg emerge empty-handed and then a slam against the shut door leads them to Detroit's room where he's struggling with the shooter.

Detroit knocks her gun out of her hands and kicks it aside, trying to get her arms behind her back. Cas sneaks up from behind to grab her in a chokehold and Meg punches her in the jaw, slowing the shooter down. Detroit picks up the gun and holds it up to her and Meg says, "Stop fighting. You're done."

She does stop struggling, only to get a good look at each face. She has a sharp nose, icy blue eyes, a smile so irritating that Cas would love to shoot it off her face and blonde hair tied to stay out of her face. Detroit asks, gun pointing right between her eyes, "Who the hell are you?"

"I'll tell you if you tell me," she answers snidely.

Cas pulls back to clock her right in the side of her head.

**Sunday, 9:00 PM**   
**52 hours**   
**17,140 diamonds**   
**7,003 kg**

By 9 PM, Rowena, Crowley and Jo still weren't done stabilising Dean which has Cas in the beginnings of a complete freakout. Detroit trusted Meg, Eileen and Sam to handle the shooter while he and Gabriel tried to talk to Cas. They find him in the hallway near the basement for the diamonds, doing nothing but staring at his hands as he sits leaning against the wall. Gabriel slides down to sit next to him as Detroit stands.

"Hey, bro. How are you doing?" Gabriel asks tentatively.

Cas can't even answer. He feels paralysed with worry. Just two days ago, Dean was talking about melting down their gold into a ring so he could propose to him and today, he was bleeding out in an office two floors above him. It was a complete nightmare.

Detroit tries to comfort him, "I'm sure he will pull through. Dean is a strong guy. A bullet can't take him down."

"We didn't even want to come," Cas says absently.

Before Gabriel or Detroit could come up with something else to say, Ash appears and says, "He's stable."

Cas has never run faster in his life, not even to get away after a heist. He finds himself at the office soon enough and Crowley and Jo step aside so Cas can take his place by Dean on their gurney. Dean had dried blood on his hands but by the reddened cloth in Jo's hands, she'd likely been cleaning him up before Cas arrived. Cas takes the cloth from her when she offers it and gently wipes the blood off his fingers.

"Hello, Dean," he says softly.

Dean mumbles blurrily, "You were right, we should'a stayed in bed."

Gabriel calls Sam to the office with his radio and Sam arrives not long after, rambling about how scared he'd been and how they've caught the shooter, an MI6 agent called Antonia Bevell. At some point, Rowena insists on them leaving Dean alone for the night to recuperate but neither Sam nor Cas wanted to leave Dean's side, so they ended up falling asleep at his bedside.

Cas holds Dean's hand the whole night, afraid that if he let go, he'd lose Dean.


	4. DAY FOUR

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heavy chapter...
> 
> TW/  
> Near-death  
> Gun violence  
> Mentions of blood  
> Attempted murder/torture  
> Mention of a needle  
> Start of a panic attack  
> Choking

**8 years ago**

"That'll be $2.95."

Adam listens to the soft 'beep' of the barcode scanner as a woman buys something at the counter. He paces the shelves, trying to find an opening to swipe some medicine without getting caught. He didn't have enough money on-hand to buy everything he needed when he was already using what little he had for rent, bills and taxes.

He takes a magazine his mother likes and slips it into his jacket when he turns away from the cameras. He's done this enough times to know how to do it without looking suspicious. It's not like stealing is something Adam does often. He only does it when he doesn't have enough cash on him and he desperately needs something then sometimes he takes a little extra. That part's a bad habit that Adam can't shake. Maybe it's kleptomania.

He glances at the medicine section of the store, seeing a man in a black leather jacket looking at him, following his stare to the medicine he needed. The man steps in front of it and then moves away to walk his direction. Adam watches him, wondering what he's doing, and then the man bumps into him, slipping the medicine he swiped into Adam's jacket pocket.

Before the man can walk off, Adam grabs his arm and looks at him, greeted by green eyes, dark hair and a smile. "Why'd you give me this?"

"I saw you eyeing it."

"Well, who said I was gonna take it?" Adam asks, voice dropping low so nobody can hear him.

"I know a thief when I see one. You would have taken it if I didn't," the man replies, just as quiet, and puts some distance between them to look at bandaids. He interests himself with a box of Star Wars-themed ones as Adam stares at him in wonder.

"What the hell does that mean?" Adam questions, moving closer again. When the man doesn't answer, Adam takes the box of bandaids from him and the man finally looks at him. "What makes you think I do that?"

He says, "I see the way you fidget, trying to find an opening where everyone is distracted long enough for you to take it and go. I see you trying to find the blind spot in the security cameras. I saw you take this, which is pretty damning." He holds up the magazine and Adam blinks absently, running a hand over his jacket to realise that that's the copy he took.

"How did you take that..."

"Thieves recognise thieves, how else would I know how to catch you and take this?" the man replies, smiling. "My name is Michael."

"Adam," Adam returns, holding out a hand. "Can I have the magazine back?"

Michael looks at him before tucking the magazine into his own jacket. "Is it okay if get it out of here for you?"

Adam raises an eyebrow, putting a hand on a hip and giving him an amused smile. "Okay, can I ask why?"

“To be honest,” Michael begins, taking the Star Wars bandaids and putting it into Adam’s hand. “I saw you just now and you’re probably the most interesting person I’ve seen the past week. I’m only in Detroit for a few days more but I’d really like to get coffee with you before I’m gone if you’ll oblige me.”

Unable to help the grin that spreads across his face at the handsome thieving stranger, Adam agrees to the risk, taking the thin box of bandaids to slip it into the pocket of Michael’s structured leather jacket subtly. “How do you take your coffee?”

**Monday, 8:30 AM**   
**64 hours**   
**17,192 diamonds**   
**8,791 kg**

Crowley is not having a good morning.

After Dean had gotten shot by an intruder, he'd spent the next couple of hours operating on him as best as he can alongside his mother and Jo while Gabriel and Ash guarded them in case the shooter came back for Rowena. Detroit, Castiel, Meg, Eileen and Sam returned with the said shooter, an MI6 agent named Antonia Bevell. After Dean got shot, Crowley had to step up in his position as second-in-command and it wasn't going so well.

Sure, Crowley had the charm to assure hostages that everything was fine even though they haven't seen Dean all night. They might have been concerned that Dean was planning something for them in secret thus his absence but Crowley put them at ease as best as he can. However, it didn't mean he had enough charm to be a good leader to the other Dalís.

This is what Crowley has to deal with while Dean is still unconscious:

  * Castiel, who's gunning to kill Bevell the moment he gets a chance with her alone and on the brink of a meltdown over Dean.
  * Sam, who is not only livid but staggeringly concerned if Dean will awaken.
  * Jessica, who will not stop insisting that they check on Dean to see if he's still breathing.
  * Jo, who keeps abandoning her post to look after Dean.
  * Meg, who is almost as angry as Castiel at Bevell and possibly twice as murderous.
  * Gabriel, who has his hands full with making sure his little brother doesn't become a murderer.
  * Detroit, who will not stop looking out the goddamn window at the tent, on top of asking if he can stop diamond production since Castiel isn't helping.
  * Eileen, who has been terribly on edge since Dean got shot which is worrying to the quality of the gold.
  * Ash, who refuses to be posted to any duty other than watching the hostages in fear of getting killed in the hallways.
  * Rowena, who is getting increasingly worried the longer Dean remains unresponsive.
  * Adam, who has been under arrest by sadistic cops for over 24 hours.
  * The hostages, who are wracked with worry over Dean's absence and what that means for them.
  * Princess Gilda, who is getting more panicked with every minute longer she spends in the Factory.
  * Dean, who hasn't woken up yet despite his stable condition.



Bevell had been knocked out hard by Detroit last night and Jo and Sam stood guard. Castiel spent all night by Dean's side in Sam's stead. Ash and Crowley watched the hostages while Eileen and Rowena went on with gold as Detroit and Meg carried on with diamonds. Crowley tried to keep operations running as smoothly as he can while Dean is out for the count but it's proving to be a task getting increasingly difficult as the day begins.

Because the universe hates him, at 8:30 in the morning, Sam appears in the main hall with a broken arm to say that Bevell has escaped her captivity.

"Rise and shine!" Ketch says loudly, smacking Adam's head to wake him up. Mick winces as he watches Adam slowly lift his head up to meet Ketch's gaze -- Ketch and Naomi had taken to physical ways of drawing information from Adam once they realised verbal threats weren't affecting him. Mick couldn't do anything but advise them against it. Of course, because he's just a lowly police officer and they're his superiors, they tell him it's not a problem. He'd seen Ketch punch Adam in the gut and Naomi strike his jaw where it hurts. At one point, Mick was certain Adam was on the ground and Ketch was kicking him for fun.

Mick badly wanted to help Adam but he knew he was more help hidden than putting himself out on the line. He did offer Adam water whenever Naomi and Ketch's onslaught lets up. He can tell Adam's resolve is taking a hit from all the beating and kicking but he can also see that Adam is determined to keep his mouth shut about the heist and everyone involved. He hasn't even outwardly confirmed if he himself is connected to the heists or not. Pierce Moncrieff even agreed with Mick that releasing Adam seemed like a more productive option compared to their futile attempts to beat answers out of him.

Now, Adam sits at the small desk, wrists bruised purple and dull red from the handcuffs. He looks tired, dark rings under his eyes after going through a whole day without a second of sleep. He's black and blue from the hits and there's a trail of dried blood on his chin. Mick knows Ketch and Naomi are going too far.

Mick stands near the partition when he sees Ketch and Naomi going to see Adam once more. He thinks they're going to try their hand again but Ketch says, "We're bringing you outside."

Adam looks up, wincing at his soreness. "Why?"

Naomi explains coldly, "You have no use in here with your steel-trap mouth. We decided that you'll be of your utmost use on the outside."

Ketch says mockingly, circling him around the table, "When your dear Kansas sees you all pitiful, we'll take him down when he's vulnerable."

Naomi sticks her head out of the partitions and orders one of the other officers, "Get the snipers ready on the opposite block." She nods and gets moving and Mick internally starts to freak out. They're going to shoot Dean when they bring Adam out as bait.

He leaves the tent to call Dean as soon as he knows his absence won't be noted, waiting impatiently for the firewalls to pass.

Nobody picks up.

**Monday, 12:00 PM**   
**67 hours**   
**17,204 diamonds**   
**9,238 kg**

Detroit came to the office where Dean was to relieve Gabriel. Castiel was there to look after him and field any calls from the police so Crowley can keep command over gold, diamonds and hostages.

"Has he woken?" Detroit asks, putting his gun down on the desk.

Cas nods, running his thumb lazily over Dean's knuckles. "He stirred two hours ago and drank some water. He's doing a lot better than yesterday."

"That's good." Detroit manages a comforting smile and goes to the other side of the gurney. He asks, "Did he say anything?"

"He's still a little out of it, he just mumbled something about wanting Freddie Mercury to sing at his future wedding," Cas answers.

Detroit stares at Dean, sound asleep, and says, "But Freddie Mercury is..."

Cas puffs out his cheeks and leans back in his seat, muttering, "Well, don't tell High Dean that."

Shaking his head, Detroit huffs a laugh but before he can say anything, the old phone rings and Castiel passes him the phone. During the classes. Cas, Dean and Detroit agreed that in the event that Dean cannot answer the phone, Detroit will. His voice was the most similar to Dean's among all the Dalís with the voice modulator. Detroit takes the phone and clears his throat, picking up and saying, "Good afternoon."

"Go to the window, we've got someone you'll like to see," Naomi says on the other end.

Castiel raises an eyebrow in confusion and Detroit moves to the window to see who it is, pulling his Dalí mask down over his face. Ketch walks out of the tent, dragging someone along with him, and Detroit squints to look closer.

' _It's Adam_ ', Detroit mouths to Castiel whose eyes widen, getting the mask over his own face so he can see him too. Adam looks horrible -- bruised and slightly bloodied. It's obvious that Ketch and Naomi took him out for a spin. Even with a mask on, Cas knows Detroit is angry and horrified which also begs the question of how the hell did Detroit recognise Adam when they never met? Unless he was right and they did know each other from before the heist.

"Like what you see?" Naomi taunts.

Before Detroit can answer, Cas hears glass shattering, shards splintering past Detroit as his spare hand grabs his chest where the lungs are. Detroit drops the phone just as his own body hits the ground and Cas can't believe the cops have gotten to _two_ people so quickly. He presses one hand down on Detroit's wound and hangs up the old phone so they can't listen in, kicking it aside with his boot and saying into his radio, "Rowena, Detroit's been shot. We're in the office where Dean's at."

The glass breaking seems to have awoken Dean who weakly cranes his neck to try and see what's going on. "Cas?"

"Dean, just stay there, okay? Don't move," Cas says, focussing on trying to help Detroit. He pulls his mask off his face to help him breathe easier. Detroit's eyes are wide as blood begins to trickle out of his mouth. It's almost like with Dean yesterday but his hit was worse and he's losing blood way faster.

"What's goin' on? Are you okay?"

"Detroit got shot," Cas answers, trying to find where Detroit has been hit. He almost throws up when he locates the entry point, dark crimson blood staining both of them. "In his lung."

Rowena, Sam and Crowley appear the quickest again and they get to work, propping Detroit up properly on a gurney that Jo brings to work better. They set up the equipment and supplies and Detroit grabs Cas's arm to stop him from leaving to make way for their medics. Cas pauses in his tracks and says, "Detroit, I need to make room for them."

"My name is Michael," Detroit rasps. "Adam will know me."

"Stop talking, boy. Your lung is going to collapse," Rowena frets, turning Michael on his side to better tend to him.

"Adam?" Sam echoes, confused as he shifts out of the way while Crowley hastily gets the IV drip ready and Rowena scrambles to locate the adrenaline in case Michael's heart decides to give out. With a broken arm granted by Bevell, Sam, unfortunately, can't be of more help.

Michael grips Cas's arm tighter, forcing him to listen to anything he had to say. "Please tell him I love him and that --" he coughs, the sound disgusting and bloody "-- that leaving him is my biggest regret." His voice is painfully strained as he tries to fight off the shock that threatens to drag him down under.

 _Cas finally understands_. He says firmly, "You’re _not_ going to die, Michael. Or Adam will kill you himself." He looks to Crowley for instructions as other Dalís appear -- Eileen, Meg, Gabriel and Jo. Sam leaves to join Ash with protecting the hostages.

Crowley orders, giving Michael anaesthetic, "Find Bevell, we don't need to worry about a shooter on the inside on top of snipers. Eileen, move Dean to another room, we need to work." Eileen gets moving, taking Dean's gurney and pushing it out into a different office as Cas, Jo and Meg set off to find the runaway MI6 agent. 

**6 years ago**

Michael prided himself on being a very careful man. That said, he'd planned this heist with a few other people down to the minute and that should have been it. They should've taken their money and left. One of the other robbers had a plane waiting to take them from Northern Ireland to wherever they wanted to go. He should've gotten his cut of the £26.5M and went back to Detroit and his boyfriend.

But it went wrong and Michael got caught with three other robbers while the rest got away. The ride to the station made him so nervous. Michael promised Adam the heist would go perfectly.

He was taken back to America to go to jail in his home country so he got a visit from Adam who looked more relieved than anything at the fact that Michael was safe instead of frustrated that he got caught. With a glass between them and their voices distant with phones, Michael and Adam talk. On the flight back, Michael had rehearsed what he wanted to say again and again and yet, no matter how many times he repeated the words, they never seem to hurt any less.

"Thank God you're alright," Adam says once Michael presses the phone to his ear. "Look, we can get you out of there, okay? I --"

"We should go our separate ways," Michael cuts over, looking down at the table instead of Adam.

Adam is silent with shock before he asks, "Excuse me?"

"I'm going to be in here for four years, give or take," Michael says, already aching from the hurt look on Adam's face. "That's a very long time."

"Even if it's goddamn fifty years, I'm willing to wait," Adam protests. "Michael, I'm not going anywhere."

"I don't want you to stay with me!" Michael retorts. When Adam is rendered speechless, Michael runs a hand over his face. Of course, he's making it worse, he always does. Michael draws in a deep breath and tries again. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap, it's just that... Adam, I love you. I have never loved anything more than you, I never will, and that's why I can't do this. I'm not going to make you wait for me. It's not fair."

Adam points out desperately, "You didn't even use firearms or anything. If you behave well, you'll get a shorter sentence. Plus, there's visitation."

Michael shakes his head slowly. "One day, that won't be enough and we both know it."

"I don't want to give up on us," Adam says quietly, pleading.

"It's not fair," Michael reiterates. "For either of us. You deserve more than having to wait for your boyfriend to get out of prison and I know it will hurt me to know that you're waiting." After a moment of Adam not saying anything, still processing, Michael says, trying not to break down in front of him, "I'm doing this for you, Adam. I'm sorry. I hope that one day, you will forgive me."

Adam's voice fades into a whisper with every word as he says, "Michael, please don't do this. I love you."

Michael didn't dare pull his eyes from Adam's no matter how hard he tried. Every second they keep this eye contact makes him hurt more and more, the guilt eating him alive, but he knew this was the right choice despite how hard it was to make. He keeps looking at Adam and slowly lowers the phone from his ear, watching Adam's eyes widen slightly as he realises that Michael isn't going to say it back.

Michael heavily fixes the phone back up on the hook and leaves the room, the weight of the 'I love you too' he so badly wants to say hanging on the tip of his tongue. He can feel Adam's sorrowful stare at him with every step but he forces himself not to turn around. He repeats in his mind that this is the best thing he can do for Adam -- leave him a bad last memory of him so he can move on and get with someone who deserved his love more than Michael ever did.

When he's out of the room, the love of his life no longer in sight, Michael cracks and lets himself cry, the only image in his mind being the stray tear that went down Adam's cheek as he walked away.

Toni ducks into an office as soon as she hears the clacking of gurney wheels against tile ridges. If they're moving Kansas, it's either they're looking for her or someone else has been shot. From the commotion of the other robbers running to the office where Kansas was held, Toni thinks it's safe to assume it's the latter.

She sees Meg, Angeles and Houston creep past the office she's in and she stays quiet and still as they go to the other hallway before splitting up. Once she's sure they're gone, Toni sneaks to the office that she'd seen the gurney disappear into. Peeking in, she can see a woman, Palermo, standing guard but she's not currently looking at the door. Toni recalls her communicating with sign language, which could only mean she deaf or mute and she's spoken before.

The thing about Toni is that she's not afraid to do immoral things to get what she wants, so she finds a vent in the next office and climbs in, pulling the lid back over as she crawls through as silently as she can in case other Dalís hear her. Once she looks through the bars and sees Palermo looking to the door, Kansas thankfully having fallen back into unconsciousness, she takes the lid off and silently descends, landing in the room behind her. Grabbing a glass ashtray, Toni skulks up behind Palermo and slams the ashtray to her temple, knocking her out after another hit that draws blood.

Finally, along with a sleeping Kansas, Toni gets the gurney and wheels him away to where nobody will find them.

Adam almost crumbles to his knees when he sees someone in a Dalí mask walk up to the window, phone held to his ear as he looks down at him. It might be Dean but he knows it could be Detroit -- Dean told him that Detroit could answer the cop phone too since their voices were the most similar with the modulator. Regardless, Adam felt so relieved but it doesn't last long when he recalls why they brought him out to stand in front of the Factory. 

The illusion was broken just like the glass when the sniper hits the Dalí near the diaphragm and he falls out of view as another Dalí ran to his aid.

Before Adam can begin to panic or react or _something_ , Ketch shoves him back into the tent into Mick's responsibility, leaving to deal with the crowd who'd seen the Dalí get sniped.

Mick ushers Adam to the partition so they can talk in private. Once alone, Adam freaks out, asking, "Who was that? Was that my brother? Why did they call snipers? What the fuck is going on?"

"I'm afraid I know as much as you do," Mick says regrettably. "I don't know who they shot but my best guess is it's your brother."

"Oh, fuck me," Adam curses, collapsing into the chair and burying his face in his cuffed hands. " _Fuck_. Can he die from a shot like that? Please tell me he'll live."

Mick exhales through his nose, just as disturbed as Adam. "Without getting the actual diagnostics of the gun the sniper used and his wound, I can't give you a good answer. From what I saw, he must have been shot in his lung or near there. I think with a proper surgeon, he has a chance to survive."

"A chance, that's good." Adam nods as if trying to convince himself. "Can you please call them and ask who got shot? Please, Mick."

So that's how Mick ends up at the payphone waiting for the firewalls to get through again. It wasn't just for Adam's sake; Mick was beginning to get too troubled about the way Naomi and Ketch were handling it. They are supposed to be negotiators, not a hitman squad. After the firewalls pass, he hears the woman tell him she'll transfer him to the Dalís where someone picks up. Mick asks, "Who is this?"

" _Angeles. What do you want? We have a lot on our hands right now_."

“Adam wants to know who got shot,” Mick says, shoving his spare hand in his pocket awkwardly. Being the middle man is a little weird and the more unhinged Ketch and Naomi got, the more Mick felt like he was only minutes away from getting caught.

After a pause, Angeles says, "Michael."

Mick is surprised by how his answer is an actual name. He asks, unsure, "Will Adam know who that is without the city name?"

" _Yes. To you, Michael is Detroit_ ," Angeles says. " _He asked me to pass a message. I can't do that while Adam is in the tent so I trust you to pass it along for him._ "

"Of course," Mick assures.

“ _Michael says to tell Adam that he loves him and that leaving him is his biggest regret_ ,” Angeles says. “ _Michael was shot in his left lung and our surgeon is taking care of him right now. Some of us are looking for the MI6 agent. Yesterday, she shot Dean near his stomach which leaves him almost immobilised for now. Our second-in-command has stepped up. Bevell also broke Sam’s arm and beat Jo unconscious to escape this morning._ ”

"Jesus," Mick exhales, practically speechless.

" _That's all I can tell you right now. I have to go_ ," Angeles says before hanging up.

Mick returns to the tent, relieved to find that Ketch and Naomi haven't returned yet. He goes through the partitions and Adam instantly straightens up expectantly. "So? Who was it?"

"First of all, Angeles picked up the phone. Dean was shot yesterday but he's stable right now," Mick begins. "However, this also means that it was a different Dalí that got shot at the window."

Adam stares at him, mouth agape. "Mick, who was it?"

"Michael," Mick says quietly. "Detroit."

"No. You're lying. Michael isn't..." Adam trails off and Mick realises he's on the edge of hyperventilating. "No, he can't --"

" _Breathe_ , Adam," Mick quickly says, rushing to Adam's side to try and calm him down before he goes into full panic. "Come on, in and out with me." He inhales and exhales, getting Adam to copy him. While it works a little, his eyes are still wide and afraid. "Adam, are you alright?"

Adam shakes his head, breathing heavily and looking dizzy. "No, Mic-- my Michael's in there, he's _dying_ and I can't do anything about it."

"He had a message for you," Mick says, hoping it will serve as a distraction to Adam from Michael's plight. "He said leaving you is his biggest regret... and that he loves you."

" _Michael, you idiot_ ," Adam mutters in distress, burying his face in his hands and trying so hard not to cry. When he sees Ketch and Naomi return, Mick has to withhold from comforting him, praying they don't have anything else planned for Adam or the Dalís in the Factory.

**Monday, 2:30 PM**   
**70 hours**   
**17,216 diamonds**   
**9,685 kg**

Dean snaps wide awake after he feels a finger pressing into his still-fresh wound. "What the _fuck_?"

"Wakey wakey," Toni greets, wiping the new blood off on Dean's coveralls. "I want information."

Dean tries to adjust to his new environment. Last he'd been awake, he heard glass shattering and saw a masked Dalí on the ground as Cas explained that Detroit has been shot. He'd stirred a little when Eileen was wheeling him down the hallway and now he's so fucking alive after that stab in his gunshot.

"Tough luck, I'm not saying shit," Dean mutters. Toni nods, taking a syringe out of her attire and holding it up to him. Dean laughs obnoxiously, "A needle doesn’t scare me."

Toni smiles wryly, "Oh, I know. But this isn’t just a syringe. It’s a syringe with 10cm3 of air." Dean can feel the colour drain from his face the moment she says that. Dean may not be the most proficient in methods to kill but when you're dating someone like Cas and friends with people like Meg and Crowley, you learn a thing or two. "Do you know what happens when I put this air into your arteries? When that air goes into your bloodstream?"

"Son of a bitch," Dean exhales, the urgency finally creeping upon him. He has to get the hell out of here.

"Tell me all about the first robbery and this one, and I’ll let you go," Toni bargains.

"What, you think this Russian Roulette shit scares me? Vegas played it on me before, this is an old trick," Dean taunts. Maybe he's making things worse but if he can keep her busy until the other robbers find them then he's willing to turn this room into his personal hell as long as he has to.

Toni rests the tip of the syringe's needle against Dean's neck. "Except this time, you know when exactly the bullet will go off, and you know I will not hold back because we’re not friends. You’re not in charge of my payday." Dean takes a sharp inhale when he feels the needle go in. "I take it you know what I’m doing."

It's clear as day in Dean's memory. Three years ago when they were studying for the first heist, Crowley told him about one of the numerous untraceable ways to kill someone.

"Air embolism..." Dean trails off. "50cm3 and I'll be a dead man walking."

Toni nods, grinning sadistically as she mocks, "I wonder how you’ll go... Heart attack, respiratory failure or a stroke? So many options." She leans in closer once again, saying dangerously low, "Tell me everything."

"No," Dean says, trying to be as comfortable as he can. He knows he'll be here for a while.

Jess heard on the call between Cas and Mick from the police that Detroit -- real name apparently Michael -- had gotten shot by a sniper. She saw on the cameras, Cas running to his aid and calling for help from Rowena. She saw Eileen wheel Dean out to make space for them to work and saw Sam's broken arm, this time in a sling made from a scarf belonging to one of the hostages.

Since then, she'd monitored the camera feeds as well as she can, keeping an eye on Michael's progress with Rowena, Crowley and Jo trying to save him. Sam and Ash stood guard with the hostages in case of the MI6 agent passing by and Cas, Eileen and Meg scale the hallways to find her. At some point, Cas stopped to answer that call that Jess listened to.

After over an hour has passed and they haven't gotten close to finding her, Jess grabs the blueprints of the Factory and starts looking for anywhere they haven't been. When that doesn't work, she starts looking for anywhere a secret room could be installed.

Ten minutes of staring at the blueprints later, she spots it -- a small unaccounted empty space between two rooms. She grabs her radio and says into it, "There's a room between the offices down to your left, Meg."

"You're a real one, Jess," Meg says before the line cuts off as Meg's hand falls off her radio. Cas joins her, already in the area, and they both make their way to the room.

**Monday, 4:30 PM**   
**72 hours**   
**17,224 diamonds**   
**9,983 kg**

Not one thing. Toni couldn't get Dean to say anything even with the threat of cardiac arrest becoming more and more apparent with every 10cm3 of air she pushes into his arteries. He's resilient and loyal, she'll give him that. He's up to 40cm3 by now. One more dose and he'll be well on his way to knocking Death's door.

He's getting weak now though, it's obvious. With his stitches opened and dripping and the impending death sentence, he's not going to last past the final dosage.

"Last chance," Toni says, the tip of her syringe pressing gently against his neck. "Or you die a slow and painful death."

"No," Dean says, seeing someone shuffling behind Toni.

"I'm going to fucking kill you," Toni growls, pushing the last bit of air into Dean's bloodstream to send it well above 50cm3. Dean peers over her shoulder in his strain and sees Cas holding up a finger to his lips, a blue tie in his hand.

Dean can't help but laugh at how they finally found him and Toni frowns as Dean says, "Not if they kill you first."

Cas grabs the other end of the tie and loops it over Toni's head, dragging her away from Dean by her neck. He hands Toni off to Meg who pushes her to the ground, keeping her down with a knee to her back, and Cas goes to free Dean of the restraints Toni put on him. "Dean, are you okay?"

"I need to get out of here," Dean says, letting Cas help him off the gurney.

"Okay, I’ll take you to the office --"

" _Out_ of the building," Dean clarifies. "I need something and we didn’t bring enough."

Cas stares at him, trying to figure out what to do. "What do you need?"

"Adrenaline," Dean answers laboriously, watching Meg restrain Toni and drag her out of the room to where Eileen and Jo were now waiting. "We used the last of it for Detroit. Any time in the next fifteen minutes, I’ll be getting a heart attack and we don’t have adrenaline to get my heart back online."

Cas suggests, resting Dean on the edge of a desk, "What if we traded Toni for adrenaline?"

"She’s got more use in here than out there," Dean rejects, starting to feel the effects of the air embolism.

Cas nods and reaches for the rifle strapped to his body, saying, "If you need adrenaline, I’ll go out there and tell them to give me some."

"Cas, wait --"

"Look, you need it and we don’t have another choice," Cas insists, looking over his gun before pulling his mask back down over his face.

Dean grabs his arm as hard as he can manage. "Stop, I’m not letting you go out there. I’m not gonna destroy you."

"I am already destroyed, don’t you see?" Cas cracks. "I have been destroyed _long_ before I met you. I have never been perfect, Dean, and I will never be, but I am better when I’m with you. So forgive me if I don’t want to feed you to the police."

Dean falls silent as Cas waits for him to answer until Dean says, "Someone has to get Adam out of that tent."

Cas asks, in the exact same way he asked Dean if he was ready for this heist to go wrong back when Meg first approached them, "Why does it have to be you?"

Dean answers, nodding to the door to get Cas to bring him there, "Because they won’t know who I am."

"You don’t know that," Cas persists, against the idea of possibly sending Dean to worse fates than death, though he still supports Dean to the doorway.

Finally, Dean admits tentatively, "Cas, I don’t actually want to die in here."

That seems to get Cas's arguments to stop and he presses his lips together, ending his challenges against Dean. "How do you want to do this?"

"Sam has to be the one to give me up," Dean says. "I have a plan to save Adam. It may not work but it's a shot."

Cas nods and calls for Sam through the radio. Once Sam confirms he's on his way, Cas asks Dean what's next to which Dean says he'll explain when Sam gets here. There's no point wasting his breath when he's this close to passing out. He needs to make sure his plan is known before he leaves the building.

Sam finally arrives, looking Dean all over and especially at his reopened bullet wound. "Dean, are you okay?"

"I won’t be if we keep delaying this shit. You need to get me out of here to the police, they’ll be able to save me," Dean says, letting Cas pass Dean off to Sam. Sam struggles a little bit with one broken arm but he manages with Dean trying to walk on his own. Cas follows close behind, arms gently behind Dean to support his weight for Sam.

Sam gapes at him, "Are you kidding me?"

Dean explains, "They know my face, they announced me legally dead. If they check, they’ll know I’m your brother. That’s why it has to be _you_ who gives me up. Play me off as a hostage, like I don't remember you. They'll help me." He looks to Cas and says, "Call Jess, tell her the plan. Tell her I need her to prove that I'm a hostage. You'll ask them to send me back tomorrow."

Cas makes sure Sam can support Dean on his own before he walks off to talk to Jess over the radio and Sam brings him to the front door. "Dean, are you sure you'll be okay if you do this?"

"Promise, Sammy," Dean mumbles, barely hanging on to his consciousness. "Open the doors."

Cas quickly runs up to them before Sam opens the doors, pressing a quick kiss that feels a bit too final for Dean's taste and mumbling, "Come back to me. I love you."

"I love you too," Dean says weakly as the doors begin to part. "I promise, I'm gonna come back and I'm gonna marry the shit out of you."

"Make good on your word, man," Sam says, putting Dean's arm over his shoulder once more as they face the outside world together. "Be safe. Come back. We'll wait for you."

"The doors are opening!" an officer calls out and Mick and Adam look to the tent's entrance before exchanging concerned looks. Adam didn't know of any plan that involved opening the doors. Is this the rescue mission? Is someone hurt?

Outside, there is a Dalí with a broken arm in a makeshift sling holding up a barely conscious brunet man. In the arm under the man, he has a white handkerchief to tell them not to fire on them. Slowly, he pulls off his mask and Adam and Mick watch the broadcast from the television set in the tent.

"Sam," Adam says mindlessly, seeing his face reveal itself once the mask is off and the hood falls off the top of his head. The man's head raises slightly, his eyes blurry, and Adam obviously recognises him. "Shit, Dean."

"Don't shoot!" Sam shouts. "We have an injured hostage, he needs help!"

Ketch turns slightly to Naomi to discuss quietly, "Could be one of them in disguise."

Naomi looks like she wants to agree but she points out grudgingly, "We shot one of them just for coming out of the Factory to get supplies and then we brought our punching bag out in front of everyone with a camera, then we publicly sniped someone. We need to win the citizens back or Interpol and FBI are fucked."

Groaning, Ketch orders, walking out of the tent, "Someone, find out who that guy is. Get the medics. And hold your fire, don’t shoot Sam Winchester!"

Naomi redirects her attention to Mick and asks, "Who is that man? What has IT pulled up?"

Mick checks with the other ITs in the tent before informing her just as Ketch comes back, "Data says Dean Winchester, ma’am. Sam Winchester’s legally dead brother."

"No wonder he sent him out. It’s his brother," Ketch says, realisation dawning on him.

Naomi frowns, "No, wait, I don’t get it. Does Dean know Sam is his brother?"

"Doesn’t seem like it," Mick lies. "Maybe he doesn't recognise Sam." He can't believe the guts of Dean Winchester -- asking the enemy for help and having enough confidence that he will get to return. He wonders if he has a plan to get Adam out of the tent.

"Is he with the medics now?" Naomi asks Ketch.

He nods, pointing out of the tent as he says, "They're stabilising him right now." Ketch then frowns, putting his hands on his hips and giving Naomi an exhausted look. "And the guy's girlfriend is here."

Jess runs through the crowd of people gathered outside the Factory to watch the robbery unfold, muttering apologies as she gets to the front. Cas filled her in on Dean's plan and she'd left her station instantly, running down the street to the Factory. She stands at the barricade the police had set up, squinting to locate Dean.

The doors open and she sees Sam take his mask off, white cloth in his hand as he shouts something she can't hear. Jess grips the barricade and jumps over as soon as Sam hands Dean off to a medic, running across as officers try to stop her. Once he's back in the building, she shouts to the medics, "Oh my God, is he okay?"

"Miss, you shouldn't be here, please move --"

A man comes out of the tent and Jess recognises him from Dean's post-heist notes of the first run as Arthur Ketch and Jess plays it up. "No, you don't understand. That's my boyfriend! Dean, he was going to propose. We were on holiday, he was looking for a diamond that I'd like, it's my fault he was in there."

Ketch frowns and walks up to her, asking, "You know him?"

Jess's eyes follow as Dean is taken by medics to stabilise and she nods frantically. "Yes, Dean's my boyfriend. Please save him, I love him so much, I can't lose him."

It seems like Ketch buys it and he nods, ushering her to a bench near the tent. "Then you may sit here and wait for more news. The medics are trying to get him back topside. What's your name?"

"Jess," she says, hoping and hoping that nobody thinks to run a scan on her for her data. At least now, they believed Dean was really a hostage. Jess had to wait until they had more news on Dean and she prayed that the Dalís can manage without anyone at surveillance before she or Adam gets back.

Craning her neck, she could see into the tent a little bit. It's crowded with people, screens, desks but the one thing that catches her eye -- a second's glimpse between partitions of blue eyes and blonde hair that she knows as Sam's half-brother. Adam looked terrible like he was close to breaking down at any moment. She wished she could talk to him but she can't go into the tent.

So she waits.


	5. DAY FIVE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW/  
> Russian Roulette (wow i'm so predictable)  
> Death threats  
> Gun use

**1 month ago**

“Hey, Dean-o. What happens if you die?”

Dean frowns and glances back at Meg and Cas sitting at the table, looking at him with expectant eyes. He asks, leaning against the kitchen counter, “What’s with the question?”

“Contingency plans gotta be made,” Meg says, folding her arms over the table. “You taught us that.”

“Well, if I die, then go on without me. All of you know the plan by now,” Dean replies simply.

Cas says, disturbed, “I was hoping that you would say that your death wouldn't be a possibility." Dean winces -- maybe he should have said 'I can't die' and put his boyfriend's heart at ease. Now that Cas said that, it sounded like a far better answer than the one he gave.

"All of us dying is a possibility. I told you this one won't be easy," Dean says, a poor attempt to placate his boyfriend. When Cas still isn't convinced, Dean adds, "Okay, then contingency plan. If I die, Cas will be my first-in-command."

Meg raises an eyebrow and asks, "Won't Crowley be the first-in-command since he's second?"

"Unless I die," Dean says. "Then Cas will take the lead. You'll be in good hands! Cas has had countless successful jewel heists. He knows this kind of heist inside and out. I've got no doubt that this will be yet another one he can add to his record." Satisfied with the answer, Meg nods and leaves the kitchen.

"Tell me you won't die," Cas says once they're alone.

"I won't die," Dean says automatically.

"Do better than that," Cas replies.

Dean leans over the table to cradle Cas's face in his hands and presses their foreheads together, saying gently, "I won't die. No matter what happens, I will always come home." He pulls away and kisses the corner of Cas's mouth before saying, "If I'm promising you that, then promise me you'll take over if anything happens to me. We have to be ready."

**Tuesday, 8:30 AM**   
**88 hours**   
**17,288 diamonds**   
**12,367 kg**

In the morning, Cas goes to the office to check on Michael's condition. Crowley, Rowena, Jo and Eileen were there, sitting and talking quietly as Michael's body laid on the gurney. He asks, almost afraid of the answer, "How is he?"

"Stable," Rowena answers with a relieved and tired smile, the blood on her fingers long dried. Maybe she was too tired to clean up. "He woke up a few hours ago, he'll probably come to again soon."

"Thank you all for all the work you've done for Dean and Michael. You're the true backbone of this operation," Cas says gratefully, giving Rowena a hug. Much shorter and smaller than him, he practically envelopes her.

Jo asks, "What about Dean in the tent? Any news?"

"None," Cas answers. "I gather that he's either going to be questioned about us right now or he's still recovering from cardiac arrest if he did go into it. Jess is on-site to await any news but she won't be able to relay it. Our inside man with the police hasn't said anything but when it comes to the cop side of this, silence is a good thing."

"So what's the plan now?" Eileen asks. "Gold is still going without me and you and your brother have been doing diamonds. All operations are still going."

Cas nods, "That's good. As for what happens now..." He clicks the button on the radio so all the Dalís in the Factory can hear him as he says, "Dean is currently incapacitated, therefore I am now first-in-command."

Sam's voice comes through the radio, asking, " _What about Crowley? Isn't he second after Dean?_ "

"I’m the expert on diamond heists," Cas points out. "Unless Crowley would like to contest that?"

Crowley shakes his head, activating his radio so everyone can hear him. "No, go ahead. I gladly pass control."

Meg adds over the walkie-talkies, " _Plus, Dean said he wanted Cas to take over his duty if he's gone._ "

"Then it's settled," Crowley says agreeably. "And so the question stands. What now, Angeles?"

What now indeed. Cas didn't know what to do until something big happens. Eileen had confirmed that operations were still going as strong as before Michael and Dean got shot and before Dean's departure. Michael had been saved and Dean and Adam were likely both in the tent right now. Jess is not at her station but Bevell was restrained and guarded by Meg so they no longer had anything to fear. The police have been quiet since taking Dean off their hands.

So, really, the only thing Cas can really do right now is to keep operations going and wait for news.

Cas and Gabriel moved the diamond anvils up from the basement to the office where Michael and the old phones were so they can work and get any calls coming their way. Before leaving to serve as proof that Dean is just a hostage, she'd managed to get the help of another thief that owed Rowena a favour for fixing him up after a heist gone wrong -- a young man named Oskar from a Polish family.

He stepped in to handle the phones' connections in Jess and Adam's absences. He'll do what Jess did when she was around, bringing the phones on a walk around the city while the call happened so they can't pinpoint the phone's location. He won't be doing surveillance for them but Cas liked it this way. He was already doing more than enough for them with the phones and Rowena wasn't eager to put him in the line of danger.

"Commander Cas," Gabriel says jokingly, lifting his newly curated diamond up to the thin light overhead.

Michael says from the gurney, voice rough, "Suits you." He'd woken about an hour ago and hadn't drifted back off to sleep yet, trying to stay awake. He'd asked if he could continue working on diamonds but Cas ordered him to stay in "bed". He agreed reluctantly but said he wanted to wait for news about Adam or Dean.

"Shut up," Cas mutters, working on his diamond, and Gabriel laughs.

"Loosen up, bro," Gabriel says. "Dean's saved, Michael's saved, Adam's safe, the phones are working now. We're back on track." It did sound much better than yesterday when Gabriel put it like that and Cas can feel some stress leave his body. He was still concerned about Dean's condition -- he'd spent all night and morning waiting for Mick to call with updates but nothing. He's also concerned about how Dean thinks he's going to liberate Adam from the police's captivity and get himself back into the Factory.

Michael nods minutely. "Well, this is the most eventful heist I've had by far."

"And you snatched £26.5 million," Gabriel says, remembering when Michael told him about the heist back when they shared a prison cell. "Simpler times, buddy." Michael only hums in agreement until the phone rings and Cas jumps up, pressing the green button to pick up.

"Is this Castiel?" Mick's voice is hushed and there's a muted bustle behind him. Cas thinks he's calling from the tent. As if reading his mind, Mick says, "He told me your name so it wouldn't be weird." So either Adam or Dean (likely Adam) told Mick his name. Cas would be annoyed if it wasn't for the fact that Mick's call could be getting recorded. It's better to sound like a concerned friend of a hostage than a robber trying to get updates.

"Alright. And yes, this is Castiel," Cas says, nodding. He never thought he would be relieved to hear a cop's voice, though Mick said he was definitely quitting the force after the heist is done. "Do you have any news?"

"Dean is alright. I think they're bringing him into the tent in an hour or two to question but for now, he's being monitored by the medics. He's been awake since this morning," Mick says and Cas grips the edge of the table, every inch of anxiety in his body relieved after hearing that Dean is well.

Cas says fervently, "Thank you. Thank you so much."

"I also have someone who wants to talk to you," Mick says. "Well, Michael, actually."

"Of course," Cas says, taking the phone and pressing it to Michael's ear. At his questioning look, Cas explains, "Adam wants to talk to you."

Michael instantly sits upright despite Cas flinching and Gabriel protesting. Michael winces at the strain on his fresh stitches but ignores it for the call. After a shuffle of the phone, Michael says tentatively, "This is Michael."

"Michael, you're okay," Adam breathes, audibly reassured. "You can't keep doing this to me."

"I won't," Michael promises, a smile playing on his lips. Just hearing Adam's voice already made him feel healed. "Hello, Adam."

"Hey yourself. Why didn’t you tell me you were here?" Adam asks, voice quiet so nobody else in the tent will hear him. Naomi and Ketch mustn't be there otherwise Cas doesn't know how else Mick could get away with giving their captive a phone.

Michael answers, shifting into a more comfortable position, "I didn’t want to be in your way. I thought you were better off if you didn’t know I was here." Cas helps him move without obliterating his fragile stitches and Michael mouths a 'thank you',

"God, I knew I should have gone to Spain for Dean’s classes. If I knew you were there, I would have dropped everything and bought a ticket to Madrid," Adam says regretfully.

"It doesn't matter," Michael assures. "Listen, Adam. You don’t have to worry about me."

Bewildered, Adam says, "Of course I’m going to worry about you! This might not have occurred to you but I never stopped loving you, Michael. We’re in this together."

Cas can see the way Michael's heart twists at Adam's easy admission that he still loved him. Remembering the words Michael thought was going to be his last, Cas knew that's all Michael wanted -- redemption. Michael says so quietly that Gabriel and Cas feel like they're intruding, "I’m so sorry, Adam. I love you."

"I never blamed you," Adam says. "Now, you're gonna get better and get the hell out of there."

"Then I'll take you out on a date," Michael jokes, huffing a laugh that he regrets, hand touching his chest where he'd been shot yesterday. Gabriel rolls his eyes -- he'd heard Michael talk about his unnamed ex back in prison, now known to him as Adam, and of course, this idiot will try to open his weak stitches to make him laugh.

"And you'll actually pay for the coffee this time. No more running," Adam says.

Michael smiles. "No more running."

"I have to go. I love you."

"I love you too," Michael quickly says before the line gets cut off.

Cas takes the phone back and puts it down on the desk as Gabriel says, "This is the most alive you've been the whole time I've known you."

"Oh, shut up," Michael mutters and Gabriel starts cracking jokes about how he's waiting for Michael to just show up with a ring on his finger. Cas hopes Dean's escape plan works, feeling the weight of Dean's promise of a diamond ring ache in his chest.

God, he would say yes so quickly. He just wants Dean to come back.

**Tuesday, 3:00 PM**   
**94 hours**   
**17,312 diamonds**   
**13,261 kg**

At 3 PM, Adam and Mick watched as Dean is walked into the tent. He's been given a plain black shirt a size bigger than he is and loose grey slacks instead of the red jumpsuit everyone in the Factory wore so he'd be more comfortable.

Mick says, slipping his arm under Dean's so he can redirect him to the partition, "I'll take him to interrogation from here." The officer gives Dean up without argument and Mick leads him to the table, sitting him down across from Adam. Alone, Mick says, "You two can speak, but quietly and unnoticeable. I don't know how long you have until Ketch or Naomi return from outside."

Adam nods and asks, "How are you doing?"

"Good now," Dean replies, looking over Adam's injuries. The bruises are now painful blue and purple and Dean can't help but wince at the sight of them. "God, I'm so gonna kill them."

"You're not killing anyone," Adam says flatly. "They roughed me up a little bit but I’m fine. Holy shit, you could’ve died, Dean."

"Still living and breathing, aren’t I?" Dean jokes and Adam gives him a dirty look. Dean brushes his humour aside and leans in to talk quietly, "Listen, Sam will be asking for me back now that they know we’re brothers. Chances are they’ll know you and I related too so we don’t have a lot of time, they’ll separate us when they find out. They’ll want to bug me but they can’t do it without me knowing. I’ll condition your release to return to the Factory and we’ll handle the bug. If it doesn’t work, I’ll threaten them with exposing your imprisonment with no warrant."

Adam nods along to show he's following. "And if that doesn’t work?"

Dean promises, "Then I’ll find another way to get you the hell out of this tent."

Mick looks over and sees Naomi coming in and quickly says, "She's here, stop talking."

Adam says, "You can leave me for now, I won’t be mad. Just get out of here."

"Adam, I swear I’m getting you out," Dean says again before he withdraws, leaning back and pretending to busy himself with his handcuffs just as Naomi walks through the partitions.

"I see you've met," Naomi says conversationally, looking at Dean and Adam as Mick leaves the area. "Or have you met before? Our database says you're brothers."

Dean chooses not to say anything. He's already playing the 'I don't know Sam's my brother' card and he isn't sure if pretending he doesn't know Adam either would be more or less help for them. Naomi scoffs in annoyance but mutters, "The medics just _had_ to tell me to go easy on you."

 _Go easy on him?_ That means they believe that he doesn't know Sam. He'll play knowing Adam. Let the negotiations actually begin.

"Sorry, ma'am," Dean mutters, looking up at Adam. "I didn't know my brother was here. We haven't seen each other in a while."

"Yes, happy reunions. You actually have another one around here too," she says sneeringly before going to the business. "Earlier this morning, one of the Dalís asked for you to return to the Factory, your other brother. We're inclined to do so if you are well enough to return. I've been told you were shot in your abdomen. Where is that from?"

"An MI6 agent in the building," Dean answers. "All the hostages are wearing the same jumpsuit and mask as the robbers, I think that maybe she thought I was someone else. I was asked by one of them, Lebanon, to wear my mask for most of my time there." The thing about lying to the police is that you need to give them some truths and then lie the rest of your way.

Dean knows his answer makes sense. Naomi chews her bottom lip in thought before finally nodding. "Will you do us a favour and go back in?"

"No," Dean instantly rejects.

Naomi bristles. "What do you mean no?"

"I got shot and then almost died. Why would I want to go back in there?" Dean challenges. He looks over at Adam and says, "I'll go back in if you free my brother."

"Why would I free him?" Naomi asks, folding her arms to give Dean a glare worthy of death.

Dean says, "He's my _brother_! He looks like he's been hit by somebody and I know that means he's here with no warrant. I could make that public, tell everybody how you people beat the shit out of my brother without proof of anything _or_ you can free him and I'll go back in quietly. Don't forget that you're asking me to sell out the robbers and you said the one who let me out is my brother too. You want me to turn on my brother? You'll have to let this one go."

He's giving them an ultimatum -- what's more important: Keeping the Dalís' uncooperative surveillance guy or sending a bug into the Factory with Dean?

"Give me five minutes to discuss with my colleagues," Naomi says.

Dean nods and once Naomi is gone, Dean flashes Adam a grin. "Told you." Outside the partition, Naomi is talking to Ketch, both looking pensive to the point that Dean found it hilarious.

"Are you sure that will work?" Adam asks, still uncertain.

"It will," Dean swears. "This is what's going to happen _if_ they say no. On my way out, they'll probably let me talk to Jess. I heard she pretended to be my girlfriend to be my alibi of sorts. She will help you escape with Mick's help, just wait for my signal. I'll go back in with a bug and provide the distraction you'll need to run away."

Adam presses his lips together in consideration before he finally nods. "I trust you."

Right then, Ketch separates the partitions and says reluctantly, "We agree to your terms. Mick, release Milligan immediately. Your girlfriend Jess is ready for him outside."

Mick gets the handcuffs off of Adam's wrists as Ketch leads Dean to the back of one of the ambulances where his jumpsuit and Naomi are waiting for him. Naomi says, gesturing to the red coveralls as she lifts up his Dalí mask, "For your return."

 _One of those is bugged_ , Dean thinks to himself, though he plays the fool and says he'll change. The two leave the ambulance to give him privacy to switch out of his clothes. Once the doors shut, he starts looking all over the coveralls and the mask to find the bug. He almost thinks that somehow, maybe they'd unwittingly let the opportunity to bug them slip through their fingers until he sees it -- a tiny microphone sewn between the fabric of the left zipper.

Satisfied, Dean puts the attire on, careful about his stitches, and emerges from the ambulance. Thankfully, his stitches were repaired with better quality thread when they were saving him from cardiac arrest so at least it was sturdier now. He looks around and spots Jess's blonde hair, seeing her look over Adam in concern before exchanging a few words with Mick.

Once Jess and Adam are let off the police site, Dean says, "I'm ready. Beam me up."

Castiel shuts the door behind him, Meg and Sam already standing around the room. He'd decided to interrogate Bevell himself -- well, less interrogate and more scare her into her eventual murder. He's been high-strung since Dean got shot, even after finding out he was alright but having her here alive even after two almost-successful attempts on his life is seriously getting under Cas's skin.

Meg locks the door and leans against it as Cas walks up to Toni who's been handcuffed and then tied to a pillar in the room. He starts easy, "When did you get in?"

"While you were arguing over a bullet graze," Toni answers, glancing between him and Meg. "A graze, really? A whole argument over a little bit of a burn?"

Cas shrugs, the argument seeming redundant and a little silly now after witnessing both Michael and Dean getting shot and almost dying. "Okay, that was on us. What were your orders?"

"To kill you," Toni says like it's a regular everyday order. For her, it probably is.

Cas can't help but smile bitterly at Sam who's standing near him and say, "It’s amusing. Everyone wants to kill us these days. Metropolitan Police, the FBI, Interpol... There's a line now."

Cold as steel, Toni says, "You can’t get away with this shit twice."

"Is that so? Well, we’re still alive here, aren’t we?" Cas says, huffing a plastic laugh as he paces around the pillar. "We’ve done this before with Abaddon from Black Ops. Are you familiar?"

Toni's eyes follow him cautiously. "I am."

"So you know what a fucking nightmare she is. We got her to admit she killed two of us on national television. She’s rotting in jail now," Cas says. He stops in front of her and says threateningly, "Imagine what we can do to you."

"I’m not doing a thing for you."

"That’s what she said too, but an hour with me and she happily spilt it all," Meg says from her place at the door, hand going over the ridges of her rifle teasingly.

Smiling like she's got them cornered, Toni denies, "I’m not her. I don’t break easily."

Cas nods slowly, kneeling down to level with Toni. "Okay, I will clarify since you seem a little confused. You shot Kansas and tried to kill him. He almost died. That, I cannot forgive. After the first heist, let me tell you, I am sick of you cops. Metropolitan Police, Interpol, MI6, American PD, FBI, I don’t give a fuck."

When she sees Cas taking his pistol from his holster, Toni frowns. "What are you doing?" Even Sam looks slightly concerned as to what he wants to do.

"Taking some inspiration from a friend," Cas says, casting a look to Meg at 'friend'. He pops out the chamber of the revolver and pours out the bullets into his hand. "To show you how much I hate and don’t care about you, let’s play a game... Russian Roulette. It was invented in 1840 in The Fatalist by Mikhail Lermontov. Vegas played it on Kansas once. I prefer not to remember it, but I have not forgiven her for doing so."

Meg's look sobers a little bit at that. Sam remembered it from the first heist. Though she still had a bullet to go before killing Dean, Sam had been shaken up by how close he was to losing his brother for real. When they all got back together for the second heist, Sam refused to talk to Meg until 3 months later. At least Sam knew now that even Cas hasn't forgiven her for playing the dangerous game on Dean. Maybe Dean hasn't either.

Now, Toni finally starts looking a little concerned. "If you kill me, they’ll kill all of you. You'll lose."

"I know. But you threatened my family," Cas replies. He puts one bullet back into the chamber and slams it back into place. Both Meg and Sam could see this was different from when Meg and Dean did it -- Cas had no sort of emotional attachment to Toni. He could actually kill her. Sam takes a step forward, pondering if he should stop Cas before he starts firing blanks. Meg shakes her head minutely. Cas continues, "If you think I’m playing, I’m not. I can take a lot of shit, but if you threaten Kansas..." He points the revolver to the centre of her forehead. "I’m not a murderer, but you make an extremely tempting offer."

Toni actually looks disturbed which would have been all manner of impressive on Cas's side if it didn't mean that this might blow a hole in Dean's 'winning the public favour' plan. Meg teases, "What’s that about not breaking easy, Little Miss Interpol?" Sam has half a mind to give her a dirty look for encouraging Cas's anger.

Cas says, low, "If you hurt my people again, if you even look at Kansas the wrong way, I promise you that I will kill you. And I will keep shooting after you’re dead. Do you know what the best part is? You can have a hundred bullets in your body and they will never know who did it."

Horrified, Toni mutters, "You’re fucking unhinged."

"No, I’m _exhausted_ ," Cas corrects, visibly irritated. "If someone has to die in this building, it’s going to be you." He checks the chamber to see where the bullet had ended up after he spun it before he fires once at Toni's head. She flinches despite herself and it ends up being the first blank. "I can assure you that I no longer care." Cas shoots again and Sam can see Meg counting the shots in her mind. "I’m not scared of you --" Another blank. "-- or the entirety of the United fucking Kingdom."

Meg finally looks at Sam with discomfort on her face, an expression that asks if they should stop Cas now. Sam steps forward as Cas continues, "I don’t feel anything anymore. So they can come and get me." He shoots another time and both Meg and Sam know that the next shot won't be a blank. "But leave Kansas alone."

He angles the gun to the wall behind Toni and shoots, the bullet cracking loudly against it. Cas walks out of the office, putting the bullets back into his pistol as Meg and Sam exchange worried stares.

"What the _bloody_ hell is wrong with him?" Toni almost screeches.

"I don't know," Meg mutters. "Stress?"

"Maybe Crowley should take over again," Sam suggests.

Right then, Ash's voice comes over the radio to announce, "They're sending him back." Nodding to Meg to confirm that she'll stay to guard Toni, Sam quickly leaves to collect Dean, wondering if he succeeded in freeing Adam.

**Tuesday, 6:30 PM**   
**98 hours**   
**17,328 diamonds**   
**13,857 kg**

Dean stands in front of the Factory doors, two officers by his side. He looks back one more time and sees Jess leaving with Adam, giving him their final smiles as they disappear into the onlooking crowd. In about ten minutes, their surveillance team should be back online and Oskar will get his handsome payment and be sent on his way.

Sam came to the door, mask tied to his arm, with two more Dalís at each side, rifles on standby. Sam collects Dean and then in a matter of seconds, Dean is back in the Factory with his friends standing before him, ready to welcome him back. Before any of the robbers can say anything, Dean holds up a fist to tell them to be quiet before he points to where the microphone was. Everyone gives him some sign that they understood him and Sam says, "Get your mask back on, Winchester."

Careful to not roughen Dean's new stitches, Cas comes forward to pull him into a kiss and then a gentle embrace so he won't affect the bug. Sam does the same and then Michael shows up, supported by Crowley and Gabriel. His jumpsuit is zipped only up to his waist and he wears a black T-shirt. With the experience of his own, Dean knows that underneath is a thick layer of bandages. They needed his voice as it sounded the most like Kansas's (or was, at least, the most convincing as Kansas.)

Michael gives him a smile and says, tone not matching his expression, "Move along."

They end up in the same office that Princess Gilda is being held. She stares with wide eyes but compliantly remains silent after Jo holds a finger up to her lips. Carefully, Ash and Eileen begin working on removing the microphone without making themselves audible. Ash manages to muffle the audio a little bit -- to the point where it would be believable that it was affected by the jumpsuit itself, but not enough that voices were fucked.

As they work on the microphone, Michael continues talking, "Right, as you can see, Dean is safe. The threat has been contained so you will no longer have to worry about rogue Interpol agents."

Dean had a plan for the bug -- well, not a concrete one yet. He just wants it out of his jumpsuit first and then they'll figure out what exactly to do with it when it's no longer in the room with them. Eileen signs to Michael to keep talking as she and Ash continue getting the microphone out of the woven fabric.

Realising that Michael has no idea what to improvise, Jo jumps in, "Why is he wearing his mask?"

Sam replies, "Because he's too important."

"Oh come on, you've got the princess in one of the rooms. I saw her when we were getting trapped here," Ash says, playing a more English accent like Jo was. "Who is he?"

"None of your business," Crowley says just as Ash finally holds up the removed bug, Eileen grinning and raising a hand in thumbs up. "Now shut up."

Rowena gets them a container to store it in, cotton placed in it so it wouldn't make any suspicious noise, and Eileen puts the bug in it. Dean nods towards the door and Eileen leaves with the bug so they can continue discussing without the bug around.

"I came back," Dean says, turning to Cas to finally get a proper hug.

"I thought I lost you," Cas mumbles into his neck.

Chuckling, Dean says, "Now you get how I felt in the first heist. You scared the shit outta me with that shoulder shot."

Pulling away so they can look at each other, Cas cups Dean's face and says, "When we get out of here, we're going straight back to Italy."

"Okay."

"You're gonna get that gold melted down."

"I will."

"And then you'll get down on one knee."

"And I'll ask you to marry me," Dean grins, stupid and shit-eating like he wasn't bleeding to death two days ago and going into cardiac arrest yesterday.

"And I will say yes," Cas says, so in love with this fucking idiot in front of him, except he's not an idiot but the greatest genius he's ever known.

"God, you two are gross," Meg fake-gags from the corner of the room. "Not sure if you'll want me at the wedding so I guess early congrats are in order."

Michael smiles, longing, and there's a sense of satisfaction in Cas now that he knows what's going through his mind. Michael says, patting Gabriel's shoulder to get him to move, "I'm going back to rest, my damn stitches are coming out."

"Ooh yeah, good call," Gabriel says, bending forward slightly to check if Michael is bleeding through his shirt. "I think Adam will kill me with his bare hands if your stitches reopen. Rowena, you gotta check on him again!" Rowena follows them out and then Crowley and Ash leave for the hostages. Jo and Eileen go as well to deal with the gold which leaves Sam, Dean and Cas.

Sam asks, his eyes flickering to Cas for a moment, "Dean, can I talk to you alone?"

"Yeah," Dean nods, his hand falling away from Cas's.

"I'll go catch up with Michael and Gabriel," Cas says, leaving them in the office with Gilda.

Careful to talk quietly enough so Gilda won't eavesdrop, Sam and Dean are in the far corner of the room. Sam opens up with, "Cas is unhinged."

Dean frowns in an amused kind of way. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about him damn near blowing Bevell’s head off in Russian Roulette," Sam hisses. "He was pissed about what she did to you and played it on her. I don't have to remind you that Meg did the same thing to you two years ago, that 'game' is sick."

Considering the new information for about two whole seconds, Dean replies, "Well, she almost sent me into cardiac arrest and got me killed so I think it’s karma. He’s _not_ unhinged. I'd be careful throwing words around like that, Sammy."

Bewildered, Sam asks, "Weren’t you the one who said the moment we kill someone, we lose?"

Dean sighs, exasperated, and says, "Yeah, but the whole world saw her almost kill a ‘civilian’ and they just found out three of us got shot, two of which were public. We’re _way_ in the lead in that department."

"So, what, if Cas or anyone else kills her, you'd be cool with that?" Sam asks. "If Cas kills her, you're still gonna propose? You'll marry him then?"

Without even pausing to think about it, Dean says, "I would. If she dies, that’s on her. She tried to kill me twice. I don't let that kind of shit go. And you know what? Who I marry isn't your business. I love you, brother, I do. But you have no damn right to think you have any say in who I want to marry. Murderer or not."

With that, Dean storms out of the office, leaving Sam with Gilda.


	6. DAY SIX

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW/  
> Death by gun  
> Injury by gun  
> Talking about murder

**3 years ago**

Bela knocks gently on Berlin’s door, peeking in through the crack. “Berlin, are you awake?”

“Yes, what do you want?” Berlin asks, waving to let her know she can come in. She slips into his room and shuts the door behind her before moving towards his bed. She lays out a blueprint over the empty space on the bedsheets. Berlin looks it over and raises an intrigued eyebrow at her. “Hatton Garden. What’s with the blueprint?”

“I want to raid it,” Bela declares. “17,000 diamonds in the safes.” Her perfectly manicured finger skates across the blueprint to land over the basement where the safes are. “And about 70,000 kilos of gold.”

Berlin looks interested but he says, “We will have more than enough gold after Kansas’s heist.”

“But you can never have too much,” Bela points out, to which Berlin shrugs in agreement. “You’re one of the best robbers I know. Hell, you’re one of the best in this house. You’re focussed and clever, nothing is too big a setback to you. I think you’re perfect to be my right-hand on this.”

“Why not ask Kansas for his help on the heist? I may be good, but he’s better,” Berlin says, sitting down on the corner of the bed to look at the blueprint.

“Because I know he won’t agree! He’s busy with this one and I’m pretty sure he’ll be retiring from stealing after this one,” Bela says exasperatingly. “He’s going to take his cut and do whatever the hell he said he was going to do with it and then he and Angeles will elope somewhere --“

Berlin can’t help but laugh. “Do we all think that?”

“Seems like it,” a voice says from the door -- Dallas. “Sorry, I overheard y’all. Am I disturbing?”

“Not at all, come in,” Bela says cheerily before Berlin can stop her from inviting people into his room.

“Well, good, because Rome’s with me too,” Dallas says with a wide grin, both him and Rome entering. “What are y’all doing?”

Berlin answers, gesturing to the blueprint spread out on his bed, “Planning a heist, apparently.”

“Ooh, is it a you-thing or an us-thing?” Rome asks, obviously intrigued by the plans. “Hatton Garden... The Diamonds Factory, huh? Impressive target.”

“I know, right? And it’s a me-and-Crowley-thing. Sorry, love,” Bela says, giving him a frown so insincere that Rome throws a pillow at her, making her laugh before getting shushed by Berlin. “Perhaps after we do this heist, you and I can plan another one. Where would you like to rob?”

“No, I was only kidding. I’m done with the criminal life after Kansas’s heist,” Rome says, shaking his head to assure Bela that he didn’t want to do another heist. “I’ll go back to my family, watch the kids grow old...”

Dallas grins, leaning against the wall as he listened to them talk. “Didn’t figure you for the family type, brother.”

“I suppose we are all full of surprises,” Rome smiles back at him. “What are you going to do?”

“Back to mining, I guess,” Benny answers as Bela scribbles a note in the corner of the blueprint. “Then I’ll quit, open a little cajun place or somethin’. I wanna rest these old bones.”

“You’re not that old,” Bela laughs.

Berlin says, “I think I’m going back to Scotland, find my mother.”

“Vegas and I are gonna do something after the heist,” Bela says. “I’m not sure what the plan is yet but I think we’re getting a place together.”

“That’s good,” Dallas comments. “None of us are gonna be alone.”

“Well, I certainly refuse to die alone, at least,” Bela says, like the idea itself was absurd. "If I die, I die with friends."

**Wednesday, 3:30 AM**   
**107 hours**   
**17,364 diamonds**   
**15,198 kg**

Dean enters the office where Michael is quietly in hopes of not rousing him from his sleep. Sometime before midnight, Michael’s lung suddenly started acting up and luckily, Crowley was there to stop it from worsening. After which, Dean and the other Dalís agreed to do hourly checkups on him to make sure his lung doesn’t crash on them again.

Cas asked if Dean wanted him to come along but he told him there wasn’t any need and he can continue working on diamonds if he wanted to. Now at the door of the office, the door is slightly ajar so it’d be quieter for anyone to pass by and check on him and Dean can hear Michael talking to someone. After hearing two more sentences, Dean realises that he’s talking to Adam over their radios.

He waits patiently for Michael and Adam to say goodbye before he comes in, Michael staring at him with wide eyes. “How long have you been there?”

“A while,” Dean answers sheepishly. “So you and Adam, huh? Cas filled me in on what happened while I was gone.”

“I’m... aware of how awkward this is since he’s your brother,” Michael says clumsily. “Maybe I should have told you before that I knew him.”

“Nah, you have the right to your own secrets, brother or not,” Dean says, waving a hand dismissively as he takes the seat next to Michael. “How’d you know him?”

Michael sits up slightly so it’s easier to look at Dean. “I was in Detroit to meet another jeweller and I saw him in a store. I offered to steal a magazine for him and he snuck Star Wars bandaids out for me. We got coffee afterwards.”

“So that’s why you picked Detroit,” Dean realises.

“Because I met him there, yes,” Michael says, almost like he’s embarrassed and Dean didn’t even know Michael could get flustered. “I didn’t pay for the coffee which was unintentional, I forgot to pay and just left. It was funny... and we spent the rest of the day together. He gave me his number and asked me to call him the next time I’m visiting Detroit. But after knowing him for the day, it got hard to leave, so I called him that night and told him I was staying longer.”

Dean frowns. “You two sound great. Why’d you two break up, then? I mean, I’m assuming you did if you didn’t want him to know you were here.”

“I broke up with him because I didn’t want him to wait for me. I got arrested for my big Northern Ireland heist,” Michael answers. “Turned out to be the biggest mistake of my life and I’ve made plenty of mistakes. But when I get out of this Factory, everything will be different.”

Dean grins, commenting offhandedly, “This is the most I’ve ever heard you talk.”

“It’s _Adam_ ,” Michael says like that’s a sufficient explanation.

“I think the only time I’ve heard you talk so much is when you’re talking about jewels,” Dean teases and Michael’s face actually turns red.

“Stop it,” Michael mutters. Changing the subject, he asks, “When do you think we’re leaving the Factory?”

Dean glances towards the window and says airily, “Today.”

Michael blinks. “Today?”

“Yeah, you know, we’ve been here just as long as the first heist and nobody’s died yet. I want to keep that record and quit while we’re ahead,” Dean says. Taking in a breath, he leans forward so his elbows are resting on the edge of the gurney before he continues, “We’re all getting a bit sick of this ‘one step forward, two bullets back’ dance. We all wanna go home and leave the Factory and the Bank behind.”

Michael nods in agreement and asks, “You did this to honour Bela, Benny and Balthazar, right?” At Dean’s nod, Michael says, “If it’s any consolation, you’ve hauled over 15,000 kilograms of gold paper and about 17,300 diamonds. I think your job here is done.”

Dean smiles minutely. “I hope they like what we did for them.” Then, jokingly, he adds, “I almost died twice and you actually died for like two minutes, so they better.”

Michael’s eyes widen at the mention of his temporary death -- Crowley had managed to save him before he was permanently lost to the other side -- and he asks, “Can you not tell Adam about that?”

Dean frowns. “Dude, he’s your boyfriend.”

“He’s not my --“

“You have to tell him at some point. Listen, I’d rather you tell him when you’re fine than someone else telling him, then you have to deal with the whole ‘why didn’t you tell me’ spiel and I’m sure it’s more trouble than it should be,” Dean points out.

Defeated, Michael huffs. “Fine. Are you going to tell Castiel that you died in the ambulance too?”

“How the hell do you know that?” Dean asks, dumbfounded.

“Mick told Adam who told me,” Michael answers.

Dean realises belatedly, giving him an exasperated look, “You motherfucker. You told Adam already, didn’t you?” When Michael smiles at him, Dean rolls his eyes. “Look, I’d love to, but the situation’s different. Cas might kill her.”

“Well, it wouldn’t be entirely unwarranted,” Michael says unhelpfully. “She did kill you first, albeit for five minutes.”

“You’re not wrong.” Dean chuckles a little at that before sobering up. “I know I’ll love Cas the same whether he does kill her or not because honestly if the roles were reversed, I’d probably kill her too. The problem is that I’m not sure how well I will be able to keep the cops off our scent if anyone’s blood is spilt.”

Michael exhales lightly, toying with the edge of the gauze over his wound. “Understandable. I know it’s not my place but if you two plan on getting married after we leave, I think he should be informed.”

“You’re right,” Dean grumbles. “When will you put a shirt on?”

“I have stitches in my lungs. I get a pass,” Michael replies, making Dean laugh before he winces at his own.

"Anything new?" Naomi asks, coming up behind Ketch. It's almost 5 in the morning and none of them has been home in days. They're all more than exhausted and in need of some rest.

"Just random conversations, nothing important," Ketch mumbles, tilting his head towards where their bug was set up. The bug they put on Dean Winchester yielded practically nothing. The most remotely exciting thing he'd heard since planting it was that someone was still confined to rest in recovery -- probably Kansas since they shot him through the window.

Naomi rolls her eyes and takes a seat next to him. A lot of cops left the tent to get some early coffee before facing another day in front of the Factory. Other than them, there's only Mick texting someone and Renny Rawlings typing away on the computer. She says, "We should just break into the Factory. Ram down the door, get them while they're not ready for us."

Ketch raises a tired eyebrow at her. "You're certain this will work? You and I both know that underestimating their preparedness has been nothing but detrimental to us."

"If we're quick, if we do this _today_ , then yes," Naomi says firmly. "Their leader is down, that much we know. To organise an attack, we'll probably be able to be ready by 3 this afternoon."

Ketch nods slowly. "This could work. Where's the Interpol bitch?"

"Still M.I.A.," Naomi answers, scoffing. She looks over at Mick, still busy with his phone, and says, "Davies, I need you to make some calls."

Mick looks up, startled by the sudden attention, and glances nervously at Ketch who turns to him as well. "What calls, Agent?"

"To the CO19," Naomi says. "Get going. We need the units here, by 1:30 at the latest."

**Wednesday, 10:00 AM**   
**113 hours**   
**17,388 diamonds**   
**16,092 kg**

Dean locates Cas in the office where Michael is with Gabriel, both brothers working on their diamonds, laughing as they share stories from their past. Dean doesn't really want to interrupt them but he knew Michael was right this morning, he had to talk to Cas at some point and he'd rather it be before he asked him to marry him.

He leans against the doorway and gives them his easiest smile, asking, "Having fun?"

"Hello, Dean," Cas greets in that way of his, gravelly yet fond. "Did you need anything?"

"Yeah, can I talk to you outside?" Dean asks, using his thumb to point over his shoulder. Frowning in thought, Cas nods and leaves Gabriel and Michael to continue talking among themselves as he joins Dean in the hallway. Dean moves them into the office across the hallway and once they're alone, out of Michael and Gabriel's earshot, he says, "I need to tell you something but you gotta promise you won't overreact."

Cas folds his arms and furrows his eyebrows. "Why would I overreact? What do you need to tell me?"

Dean takes in a deep breath, his tongue running over his lower lip with nerves. He burrows his hands into his jumpsuit pockets as he says, "I died."

Cas blinks once. Then twice. "You what?"

Dean clears his throat awkwardly and elaborates, "When Bevell gave me an air embolism and we sent me out to the paramedics. I was dead for about five minutes but, obviously, they managed to bring me back." He does a gesture of sweeping his arms over his body like he's saying "ta-da" but it doesn't feel quite so grand when Cas's face is frozen. He tries, "But I'm fine! I swear, I've never felt so alive."

"That's it," Cas says. "I'm going to kill her."

"Cas, Cas! Wait!" Dean calls out, pulling Cas back by his arm before he can walk down the hall to where the office holding Bevell is at. Cas turns around to face him, murder in his eyes, and Dean cups his face in hopes that it offers some semblance of calm. "Cas, listen to me. We're leaving this afternoon. We are so close. She's not important."

Cas stares at him, appalled. "You _died_!"

"For just five minutes!" Dean replies and Cas frowns deeply.

"She killed you for five minutes!" Cas insists.

" _Listen to me_ ," Dean says firmly. "I'm still here, Angel. Alright? I'm here with you, I'm _alive_ , I'm not going anywhere. Getting a murder charge won't make things easy for us. I want to kill her. Hell, all of us do. But I am begging you to just leave her."

Finally, Cas relents, leaning his cheek into Dean's hand. "Fine."

Dean presses a kiss to Cas's lips and says, "Unless you know how to make it not look like murder..."

"I'm a jewel thief, not a murderer," Cas jokes, kissing Dean again.

"And yet you want to kill her," Dean says, pulling away with a faux unimpressed look.

Before Cas can say anything, Adam's voice comes through the radio to say, " _The equipment is gonna be unplugged and loaded into the truck in about an hour so we won't be able to check for you. You gotta be out of there by 2 at the latest, we'll have the truck ready and the tunnels are open._ "

"Thanks, Adam," Dean responds. His touch on Cas's cheek lingers before falling away to raise his hand to kiss Cas's knuckles. "Almost outta here."

"Finally," Cas sighs. "We should've said no when Meg came with the plans."

"Too late, right?" Dean smiles in an "oh well" kind of way. "Come on, we need to get ready to leave."

Adam loads up the computers in the back of the truck as Jess clears the area, making it look like they were never there. He assembles them properly and nods to himself, stepping off as Jess puts up the last of their equipment. He asks, "What are you and Sam gonna do with your shares?"

"I don't know. Hopefully, get married," Jess jokes, laughing as she shakes her head as if to say it's just a dream.

Adam smiles lopsidedly, asking, "Is that really so unbelievable?"

"No! No," Jess grins, sitting down on the edge of the truck so her legs hang off the edge. Adam sits next to her and she continues, "I helped him pull off a heist. If he doesn't marry me after this then that would be absurd." Adam laughs and leans into her side. Undeniably, working together on the heist made them closer. Jess helped to patch him up after Dean managed to get him out of the tent. He now holds the box of Star Wars bandaids, looking over the aged packaging. He'd kept it since Detroit but he guesses he forgot he had it until Jess dug it out. Though it had long expired, Adam had kept it out of sentimental value.

"Then why'd you laugh?"

Jess shrugs. "Don't know. I'm thinking that maybe we should wait until there isn't so much attention on the heist, you know?"

"Yeah, that's true," Adam nods in understanding. "Imagine him proposing to you and then the FBI shows up."

Jess does a full-body shudder. "Oh, no. That's _awful_." They both laugh and it's quiet for a moment before Jess asks, "And you and Michael? I assume you two will be sticking together, what'll you use your shares for?"

"Don't know either," Adam echoes, turning the box over in his hands. "I'll have to talk to him. Maybe he'll go back to Detroit... Maybe we'll move somewhere else and start over like you guys."

Jess turns to him excitedly. "Oh my God, you have to come to Italy with us! Please, we can probably arrange to fly your mom over too. We can all stay in Palermo. It's beautiful! There's a place near Dean and Cas that emptied out recently, you, your mom and Michael could stay there."

“Doesn’t sound so bad,” Adam says wistfully. A long time ago, he’d wanted this. Now that it’s a possibility again, it made him dizzy with excitement. His mom would be so happy to see Michael again.

**Wednesday, 1:30 PM**   
**117 hours**   
**17,404 diamonds**   
**16,688 kg**

Mick finds a phone booth and slips in, making sure the door is closed all the way before he dials the number of Adam's phone. After waiting another two minutes as the line gets pushed through multiple firewalls, he finally hears Adam say, "Hey, Mick. Connecting you to Dean, give me a sec."

Mick waits patiently for a few more seconds until Dean greets, "Hey, man. Anything new?"

"Naomi and Arthur are planning to break in at 3," Mick informs, twisting the phone cord around his finger. "They had me call the CO19."

Dean pauses. "I'm not from the UK, dude."

Mick sighs and explains, "CO19 is the Specialist Firearms Command, the firearms unit of the Metropolitan Police. Basically, it's to the UK what the SWAT team is to the US."

"Oh, man. Again?" Dean grovels. "Alright. Thanks for the heads up. It's been good working with you but you don't have to worry, this is the last time we'll show our funny masks in public."

"This is your last heist?" Mick asks, surprised. He can't remember if Dean had mentioned it before.

"Yep. This one was just in memory of our friends from the first heist, that's all. After this, we're done. At least, Angeles and I are," Dean says. "Thanks for your help, Mick. You're a good man."

The line drops and Mick hangs the phone back up on the hook, leaving the tiny phone booth.

Over the radios, Dean says, " _We're leaving at 2 today. Be ready_."

Meg frowns towards Eileen, signing what Dean said before she asks, "Why today?"

" _Honestly, I'm concerned with how much longer we can keep the Factory_ ," Dean answers while Meg continues to sign his words to Eileen as he speaks. " _And Mick said they're gonna bust our doors down at 3, so we have to be out of here before then. We'll start letting hostages out by 1:50._ "

"Copy that, Boss," Meg replies.

Eileen says, tilting her head in contemplation, "We're leaving today."

Meg looks over the book spines, some filled with gold paper and some still awaiting their sheets, and thinks about the 17,000 diamonds upstairs, and she smiles. Quietly, she says, "I hope you like it, Bela. It was all for you."

The thing about Gilda is that she's not going to let the Dalís get away so easily.

Granted, they have been so busy with things happening to them -- two of them getting shot, which they'd tried to hide from the hostages but Gilda was intelligent enough to figure it out. Too many of them disappeared at a time, their redhead medic was always running off somewhere with an IFAK kit... Plus, how Detroit and Kansas just completely disappeared.

Gilda listens and observes, which means that she knows there's a bug because the Dalís had made their mistake -- keeping her in the room while they used said bug to trick the cops. She'd seen where it'd been held, she'd seen who took it. She knew where it was.

When the coast is clear, Gilda sneaks into the office she'd seen the bug get hidden in and successfully finds it. She knows that the Dalís regularly walk in and pretend to have conversations so as to not raise too much suspicion, so she'll have to be quick.

Today, Gilda had heard Kansas's voice through Nebraska's radio saying that they would leave at 2 this afternoon.

She picks up the bug and says, "This is Princess Gilda, I'm a hostage in the Diamonds Factory. The Dalís are planning to make their escape at 2. Do what you must."

With that, Gilda carefully puts the bug back where it'd been positioned before and sneaks back out into the office she'd been put in.

The Dalís biggest mistake was thinking Gilda would do nothing.

Ketch taps Naomi's shoulder and asks, "How's the CO19 assembly coming along?"

"They're setting up, preparing for our raid at 3," Naomi answers, cocking her head towards the tent entrance to indicate the CO19 outside. "I believe that --"

The speakers crackle and a voice says, " _This is Princess Gilda, I'm a hostage in the Diamonds Factory_."

"Turn up the volume for the bug!" Ketch shouts and Mick raises it. Of course, the voice is distorted, but the speech pattern is undeniably the princess.

" _The Dalís are planning to make their escape at 2. Do what you must._ "

The bug goes silent after that and Naomi instantly turns towards Ketch, saying, "We'll invade at 2. They'll be at their weakest, everything would be packed up, they'll be trying to organise."

Ketch nods in agreement and walks out of the tent with Naomi to inform the CO19 that there's been a change in plan. Mick rushes to find the phone booth, only to get stopped by Ketch. Ketch frowns, asking, "Where are you going?"

"Need to make a call," Mick says, trying to not seem nervous.

"No, we need you here, in case another message comes," Ketch denies, redirecting Mick back into the tent to his inner horror.

Eileen, Jo, Ash, Gabriel and Meg had started to move the gold books through the tunnel to get to the truck where Adam and Jess loaded them in the truck. As Sam's arm was broken, he'd been ordered by Dean to just wait with the truck. Cas and Crowley had already transferred the large sack of diamonds to the truck where it'd been placed with the computers, hidden behind tall stacks of books.

Meanwhile, Dean announces to the hostages that they'll be gone in half an hour but before he can tell them they can begin to leave, the door rumbles and Dean realises that the schedule has been pushed up.

"Shit," Dean mutters, running off to go find Cas.

He finds him near the main hall and Cas says, "They're getting in, Dean!"

"Where's Michael?" Dean asks, grabbing Cas's arm to steady him.

Cas jerks his head towards the elevator and by the time they get to the doors, Michael is already on his way out with Rowena assisting him. Thankfully, he's now a little more mobile than yesterday so at least Rowena didn't have to try too hard to help him. Crowley appears from the other hallway.

"Wait, what about the Interpol agent?" Rowena asks and Cas looks like he's about to go find her.

Dean insists, "Forget her. We need to go now."

Cas looks like he's about to argue but then Dean holds out his hand to him, saying, “Come on, we don't have time, just leave her. We need to go.” Hesitating, Cas eventually grabs Dean’s hand and Michael follows them, rifle set. Crowley and Rowena are trailing behind them, ready to leave, and then Rowena turns back around to claim a leftover pistol.

"Fergus, you left a revolver --" Rowena is suddenly cut off with a scream, grabbing her right thigh as she crumbles to her knees, the sound of a gunshot ringing out. Crowley's head snaps back to see who fired it and before anyone else can process what just happened, Crowley raises his own pistol and fires.

Agent Bevell collapses on the ground, bleeding out from her head.

Dean and Cas freeze in place, hand in hand, and Michael's mouth falls open. Uselessly, Dean says, "You killed her."

"I killed her," Crowley echoes absently.

Cas blinks once before shrugging. "You know what? She had it coming."

Crowley quickly goes to help Rowena up and she groans in pain, her hand coming away crimson from her blood. Dean orders, "Crowley, get Rowena to the exit point. Michael, let the hostages out. Cas, you and I are covering Bevell."

Michael gets moving, tugging the mask over his face, and Crowley supports Rowena towards the exit. Dean and Cas run to find something to cover her body with, in case some hostages pass by. Cas manages to dig up a white tablecloth and Dean drapes it over the top half of her body. It doesn't do much since her blood is bright red across the white cloth but at least it hides the wound. Dean would attempt to hide the body but they don't have time to clean up a blood trail and leaving their prints on her body is a piss-poor idea.

"We should go now," Cas says once the cloth is in place.

Dean nods and takes Cas's hand again, running with him to the meet-up point where Adam and Jess would have the truck ready to go.

Once they get across the tunnel to the truck, they see that everything's been loaded and that the Dalís there are already changing into civilian wear. Michael had arrived just before they did, still holding Adam in a tight embrace. Dean makes sure they've left no person behind before he starts to get going.

“Jo and Eileen, front seats, go!” Dean orders before he puts on a cap. Sam, Adam, Jess and Meg will have to leave in different ways and disguises since the police had their faces and names and Adam insisted on bringing Michael along with him so he’d gone with them. Dean stayed with the truck just to ensure that they get past all the cops looking for them.

Crowley hands Rowena off to Jess and says, "You have to act like you're here for Dean and say you found my mother instead. Get her help."

"What if they recognise her?" Jess asks, already looping Rowena's arm over her shoulder to support her.

"I have connections. The medics will handle me and let me go," Rowena assures. "If not... Well, Fergus, I expect you to stage a rescue."

"Yes, mother," Crowley grumbles, though Jess can tell he would, in fact, break her out of prison if she got caught.

Knowing Crowley hates getting sentimental, Sam jokes, " _Fergus_?"

“Go fuck yourself, Samuel,” Crowley says, though he leans to give Rowena a final hug before he pulls a hat over his head and leaves.

Jess turns to Sam and says, "I'll see you soon, I'll be with Rowena the whole time."

Nodding, Sam presses a kiss to her lips before Dean says, "I can go back out. They think I'm a hostage already, they'll be suspicious if I don't come out again."

Jess furrows her eyebrows in concern, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, come on, Ro," Dean says. Carefully, Jess passes Rowena over to Dean.

Rowena asks quietly, "Am I exerting your stitches?"

"You're bleeding out. It doesn't matter," Dean says. It did hurt a little bit but it's nothing compared to what Rowena must be feeling in her leg. Cas comes out of the truck to ask what's going on and Dean says, "Cas, I'll see you again at the rendezvous, promise."

"Dean, what are you doing?" Cas questions.

"Leaving through the front door," Dean answers. "Relax, they think I'm a hostage, remember? I'll wait for Rowena to get fixed up and then we'll come to meet you. I'll always come back to you, Cas. I literally came back from the dead for you."

Cas frowns at the tasteless joke. "Too soon."

"Sorry, babe," Dean chuckles. "Alright, well, I have to get a move on if you guys can get going before they get here. I'll see you soon. Trust me, Angel."

“I do trust you,” Cas says, looking at him with concern in his eyes. "That's why I'm unsure."

Cas said that two years ago at their first heist when they were changing into police uniforms. Dean remembered it clear as day, Cas's indisputable intuition before everything went horribly wrong. He pushes the bad memories back and flashes Cas a teasing grin, "Aw, just like our first heist together." He kisses Cas quickly, careful not to hurt Rowena, and says, "It'll be fine. Go, Cas."

Cas nods and retreats to the truck, sitting in the back close to where the books are stacked. Gabriel joins him by his side and Ash sits next to the truck doors and they hear Jo and Eileen get into the front -- Eileen in passenger and Rowena in the driver seat.

Sam calls out before he disappears through the basement door with Rowena, “I’ll see you soon, brother.”

“ _Go_ ,” Dean says, patting his shoulder once before moving into the main hall. The truck door slides shut just as Meg, the last one to leave, disappears out the door. There are still hostages rushing to get out of the Factory and Dean mumbles with a small smile, "Showtime, Ro."

"One of the medics, the blonde one, take me to him," Rowena says. "He owes me a favour, he'll let us go once he fixes me up."

Dean nods and Rowena feigns being in more pain than she actually is as Dean supports her, her arm over his shoulder. They step out of the Factory's front doors and Dean shouts, "She got shot, she needs help!" He makes a move for the blonde medic who readily brings them to an ambulance, locking the doors behind them to get to work.

Dean helps where the medic asks for his assistance and it's no longer than half an hour before Rowena's thigh is bandaged and they're good to go. Rowena leans over to the medic to whisper into his ear. At first, Dean thinks she's threatening him, but when he pulls away with relief all over his face, he knows she's let him off the hook on that favour he owed.

Still assisting, Dean helps Rowena change into civilian clothing that the medic has -- apparently, Mick's idea to prepare regular clothes for victims waiting for their family or friends to pick them up from the Factory while they're still upset about the ordeal. It must have been either Jess or Adam's idea to do that. Rowena dresses up in a pink dress and Dean puts on a red checkered flannel shirt with blue jeans.

Once they're ready, they both put on caps and duck out. Thankfully, there's already a commotion because Princess Gilda has been released as well, so they manage to slip out of the tent unnoticed.

Suddenly, loud whining static rings from the police radios and the officers all groan in irritation, trying to fix it, and a coat is draped over Rowena's shoulders just as a cap rests on Dean's head. Dean turns, trying to see who's trying to cover them up more, and he almost laughs when he sees familiar red hair and a mischievous smile.

"Anael," Dean says, smiling. "Oh God, so good to see you."

"Hi, Dean. Charlie did the radios," Anael says as she works them through the crowd, pointing at Charlie who spots them and waves. She now has longer hair than the last time Dean saw her half a year ago. It looks good on her.

"What are you doing here?" Dean asks as Anael gets them out the other end of the audience and looking around to find a rendezvous point.

Anael answers, "Charlie and I decided to get up off our asses. Listen, Dorothy has a bike ready for you two down in that alley." She points a little way down the street before she brings Dean into a hug. "This heist was incredible, we watched it on the news. Good luck."

With that, Anael disappears into the crowd once again and Dean and Rowena make their way to the bike.

When the truck starts moving, Cas opens up the book Michael gave him before the heist started to a random page. “Alright, everyone. Showtime.”

“Will they stop us? They’re looking for us right now,” Ash asks. There obviously aren’t any windows in the back of the truck so they can’t observe their surroundings.

“Definitely,” Cas says, fingers rapping on the hardcover. “But they won’t catch us.”

Through the cracks at the bottom of the slide-up doors, they can see shifting shadows and light as the truck moves down the road before, inevitably, it slows to a stop. Jo rolls down the window, flashing the officer that stopped them a winning smile. “Can I help you, officer?” Of course, with their luck, the officer in question is actually Arthur Ketch.

“Open up the truck,” Ketch orders as Mick, behind him, raises his eyebrows slightly in question -- is the gold in the back of the truck? Jo nods to Ketch, pointedly ignoring Mick, and unlocks the backdoor. Cas goes back to reading as the door is pulled up by Ketch.

Gabriel blinks against the light streaming in, trying to make out Ketch’s features, and Ash asks, “What’s goin’ on?”

“You delivering books?” Ketch asks, ignoring Ash’s question as he looks over the stacks of books around the five of them.

Gabriel nods, grinning as he says, “New series, new cover. It’s pretty awesome.”

When Ketch doesn’t seem to be convinced, Cas closes the book in his hands, holding it out to Ketch with a warm smile. “Do you want a free copy, officer? It’s about an antagonised man who finally meets his foes. There’s a lot of mind-bending content --“

“No, thanks,” Ketch says, not sounding very grateful at all. He huffs a sigh, defeated, and steps away. “Well, proceed. Apologies for interrupting you.”

“Your loss, it’s a good book,” Gabriel frowns, using his thumb to point to the book. “We’ll be on our way, then.”

Ketch raises a hand in a still wave and as when the doors descend and Jo starts the truck up again, Gabriel bursts out laughing, opening one of the false books to show off the gold sheets in them as Ash asks Cas, turning to face him, “Where the hell did you get that book from?”

“As it turns out...” Cas smiles, looking at the cover. “Michael’s father is a writer and was very inspired by our first heist. He graciously offered him the manuscript to show us.”

“Fuck me, that plot could not be a bigger slap-in-the-face,” Gabriel says gleefully, taking the book from Cas to flip through. “Seriously, antagonised man meeting his enemies?”

“Hey, Dean was literally in their tent,” Ash points out. “They saved his fucking life, sent him right back into that bank, let Adam go and they never caught him.”

Gabriel smacks his knee as he laughs. “That was a good one. Who else could ever do that?”

“Nobody,” Cas says, grinning proudly. Dean was almost like the devil. Maybe because he was; he pulled off the greatest trick that only the devil could do -- convincing the world he didn’t exist.

Kansas would remain a ghost in the police’s database forever. In fact, everyone would. Angeles, Salem, Athens, Santiago, Houston, Coventry, Palermo, Detroit, Nebraska, Madrid, Paris, they would remain ghosts.

Granted, they can’t be perfect. They arrested Windom twice, both off-the-record, but he was liberated. Everyone knew who Vegas and Berlin were but they were redeemed. London and Rome were executed but got the world to attend their funeral. Dallas would be recovered in the foundry’s debris of the Bank of America and be sent back to his family.

They honoured their family of thieves. They honoured their mistakes.

Meg still goes on heists every once in a while, but she spends more time in casinos than banks. Ash got himself some state-of-the-art computers, just like Charlie. Charlie and Dorothy got an apartment in Canada and they attend every annual get-together. Anael became an even more well-known con-woman and lived in actual Paris. Gabriel restarted his life and left crime behind to be a comedy writer instead. Jo gave her mother’s Roadhouse a much-needed renovation and business was better than ever. Sam started interning at Jess’s law firm. Rowena and Crowley opened a secret clinic for people who couldn’t afford medical care (and criminals who couldn’t go to the hospital.) Michael and Adam moved in together in Detroit and they got back all the time they missed.

Dean proposed to Castiel over an Italian sunset and he was answered with a yes.

And that was all for the Dalís, who never came back again.


End file.
